Nakama
by FairytailScarlet14
Summary: After years of seperation, Poppy finally reunites with her older sister when she arrives at Fairy Tail. The reunion, though sweet, also brings terror to Poppy and her older sister finds that Poppy is in danger. Poppy hides her past from the Guild and her sister until danger unfolds. Will Poppy be safe or will she be alone once more? Follow Poppy and the rest of Fairy Tail
1. Chapter 1

**After years of seperation, Poppy finally reunites with her older sister when she arrives at Fairy Tail. The reunion, though sweet, also brings terror to Poppy and her older sister finds that Poppy is in danger. Poppy hides her past from the Guild and her sister until danger unfolds. Will Poppy be safe or will she be alone once more?**

 **This story follows the life of Poppy and the adevnture she is about to embark with Fairy Tail**

I stood, wet, tired, and in pain, in front of large, wooden doors with a large sign with the words, "Fairy Tail". I stared at the doors, nervous and scared, but knew I could not stand in the rain for much longer- the storm was too much. I would rather go inside and take a chance than stay outside.

"It's okay, Poppy. You can do this. If she's not there...You'll keep looking...You can at least get out of the rain for a bit here...Or there was that nice bride near where you saw the blonde teenager. That'll keep you dry and out of sight for the night. Just go in. Take a peek."

With a deep breathe, I opened grabbed the large brass handle and opened the door.

Laughter and voices filled my sensitive ears as my eyes adjusted to the bright light of the Guild. I walked in slowly, noting that no one had seemed to notice me yet - they were all too loud.

I stopped when I sudddenly heard her voice.

"Gray! Natsu! I thought I told you to stop fighting!"

I stood in shock, recognizing that voice and looking towards the red head wearing armor in the front, her back towards me.

"Uhhh Erza! We weren't fightning! We're friends remember!"

"Erza!" I shouted, getting the attention of everywhere in the Guild. Even the other red head, whose eyes grew wide with shock.

The atmosphere around us grew quiet and tense as everyone looked at us-the two red-heads. "It's her. It really is her. She's alive. She's here now," I thought as tears escaped from my eyes uncontrollably and my body began to quiver.

"ERZA-NEE! ERZA-NEE! NEE-SAN! ERZA-NEE!" I cried, slamming into the red-head in front of me.

I hugged her tight while she stood stiff and still. I looked up to her brown eyes, smiling with joy. "Nii-san. I found you."


	2. 2 - The Little Red-Head

"Stop it Poppy. Stop hurting yourself with those silly dreams. She's gone. She's never coming back," I thought to myself as I woke up.

"It was only a dream. Stop being a child. You're not a kid anymore. Grow up and face the truth. Stop this," I murmured to myself as I started to open my eyes and look at my surroundings.

"Where am I?" I gasped, not recognizing the sterile, clean room filled with white beds, fear coursing in my veins in case I was caught. I quickly sat up but then winced at the pain.

"You shouldn't move yet. You are in Fairy Tail's Infirmary. You were in pretty bad shaped last night, but I took care of you and healed you."

I turned around to see a blue-haird girl, about my age, smiling at me on the left side of my bed.

"You need some rest but all your injuries have been healed and you should be able to move about later today. I'm Wendy by the way," she said, extending her hand towards me, still smiling.

I stared at her for a moment before shaking her hand, giving a weak smile back. "I'm Poppy. Thank you for healing me, but I should leave soon."

Wendy opened her mouth to reply but a white cat sitting on her lap spoke, "You can't leave yet. You need to rest and besides, we have a couple questions for you."

I looked at her in shock thinking "Cats can talk?" befor looking around uncomfortably. "Um... I appreciate your help and all, I really do, but I should get going," I responded, slowly getting up from the bed, ignoring the dull protests of my body.

At that moment, I heard yelling from behind the larger door behind Wendy that soon opened.

"I need to see her. I need to know who she is," a tall red-head said as she entered the infirmary.

"Am I still asleep? Am I dead?" I asked myself as I stood up and backed to the furthest wall from the door.

"Erza-san! Please calm down! Don't scare her away!" cried Wendy, noticing my frightened appearance.

The red-headed girl, named Erza, turned to me and slowly calmed down. I stared at her eyes, catching glimpses of sorrow, grief, fear, confusion, and hope.

"Does she recognize me? Is it really her?" I thought before shaking my head and speaking, my voice shaky.

"Stop this torture and let me go. I mean no harm but I will fight if I need to. I am a mage after all."

"It's okay. We won't hurt you Poppy."

I looked around and found the source of the voice, a blonde standing next to Erza. Erza looked at her questioningly. "Do you know her Lucy?"

"That voice. It has to be her," I thought, watching Lucy nod in response.

"Poppy once stumbled upon our land when I was young. She was exhausted and passed out when I found her. Specto-San took her inside and we cared for her until she was healthy again. She stayed with us for a week before she left, claiming she was looking for her family," replied Lucy, with tears in her eyes. "I never saw her again until now. You've grown up a bit Poppy."

"Of course! It's been a couple of years since we have seen each other! I'm sorry for not staying in contact," I responded, smiling up to her because I knew I had nothing to fear.

Lucy approached me slowly, watching to see how I would react. Giggling, I closed the space between us with a hug.

After the quick reunion, I turned around to face Erza and Wendy. Lucy kept her hand on my shoulder in an attempt to confort me.

"Poppy, I'm so glad to see you again but how do you know Erza?" Lucy asked.

The room grew tense as both Erza and I stared at each other, not knowing how to respond. At that moment, I heard more yelling and the infirmary door burst open, with people piling on top of each other.

"Get off me flame brain!"

"You're on my Popsticle Stick!

"MAN!"

"Juvia has never been this close to Gray-sama before!"

"Jet, is Levy safe?"

"I don't know Droy."

"Be careful Squirt."

I stood there in silence and confusion at the yells of the pile of people in front of me. It was then I noticed Erza's killer aura and I stook a step back.

"That feeling...that aura..."I thought, recognizing it from old memories.

"ENOUGH!" yelled a small, old man who was standing beside the pile of what I assumed to be the guild members.

Each person stood up and then looked towards me. Their eyes flickered between Erza and I. A pink haired boy grinned and then turned towards Erza.

"It's a mini you! I want one!" he yelled pointing at me, as a shirtless boy smacked him and whispered, "Shut up baka."

The small man turned to face me, smiling as though wanting to reassure me.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail. I am this Guild's Master."

I smiled nervously and waved my hand. "I'm Poppy. Sorry to enter your guild so suddenly. I'll be sure to be on my way shortly." At that, I made a motion to walk out of the guild as soon as I could but Lucy's hand on my shoulder kept me from moving.

Lucy looked at me with confusion while the master turned to Erza questioning before addressing me.

"Well, that's fine Poppy but we do have some questions we would like you to answer."

I gulped and nodded slowly.

"Sure. Ask away. It's the least I can do," I replied quietly, sitting on a nearby bed.

The master sighed. "You came in here, running to Erza, crying and hugging her. May I ask how you two know each other and why you look similar to her?"

I looked towards Erza, tears slowly falling from my eyes.

"She's my older sister," I responded quietly, my voice breaking with emotion.

The Guild stared at us in shock while I kept my eyes on Erza.

She looked back at me, her eyes a mixture of emotions but the most dominant one was hope. "Red is that really you?"

I flashed her a smile as I heard my old nickname. Tears streamed from my eyes. "The one and only."

Her brown eyes swelled with tears as she returned the smile, arms opened for a hug. I ran to her, holding her tight. Finally, feeling safe.

"I found you," was all I could say back.


	3. 3 - Separation

**Minna! Thank you for reading this! Please comment below and let me know what you think! Arigato!**

"Erza's crying! Quick! Someone pinch me to wake up from this dream!" yelled the pink haired boy.

I opened my eyes to see the master punch him to a wall as his own eyes held tears.

I looked up to my sister. Her brown eyes meeting my green ones and I smiled. She smiled back and chuckled.

"You're still smaller than me Red," she said, holding me out a bit to get a better look at me.

I laughed, "I'm a lot stronger now though." I pointed to my skinny arms. "I have muscle see?"

She laughed too but her eyes held some sorrow as she looked at my skinny arms to my small frame. I felt uncomfortable as she scrutinized me. I shifted nervously and looked down.

"I'm glad I'm not dirty anymore," I thought.

"Erza, Poppy, I'm glad you two have reunited and we will celebrate in a little..."

Cheers erupted from the guild members but the master held his hands up and continued on.

"But would you mind explaining how you two were seperated?"

I, once again, sat on a hosptial bed. Erza came and sat next to me, wrapping her right arm around me while Lucy sat on my right side. The other guild members stood in front of us while some decided to sit on the beds or the floor.

I looked to Erza and she began.

"As you know, my home, Rosemary Village, was attacked by Zeref's cult when I was a child. I was ten years old; Poppy was four."

She then paused as she looked sadly at me, all grown up now, a bit older than she was when we were seperated.

I continued for her.

"Erza-nee and I were at a strawberry field so we can make strawberry cake since that's her favorite!"

The guild chuckled at that and Erza smirked down to me, nudging me a bit.

I continued on, the memories making it seem as though I was reliving the moment...

"Erza-nee! I'm tiwed!" shouted a small red-haired girl with bright green eyes as she plopped herself on the ground in exasperation.

An older red-headed child with brown eyes that twinkled with delight came towards her sister carrying a bucket full of delicious, red strawberries.

"Look Red! Look at all strawberries we have! Imagine how much cake we can make!" she replied, her eyes becoming shiny stars while drool slowly dripped from her lips.

The little one, Red, looked back her older sister. "I want to make vanilla cake too!"

Erza grinned before looking down at her sister nervously. "Okay! We can! But we should go home soon and get you cleaned up..."

Red grinned, strawberry covering her face while her hands squished together. "Okie dokie!"

Erza grabbed the bucket of strawberries while Red quickly ran to a nearby stream to wash off a bit. She slipped in and sat in the pond, with a small, green frog on top of her head, looking sad and her eyes slowly watering. Erza, seeing her sister, laughed and went over there to help her up who immediately lightened up when she saw her older siser laughing. Afterwards, the two made their way up a hill to their village and home.

As the sun passed through the sky marking it mid-afternoon, the two made it back to the center of the village, smiling and laughing together as sisters would. Red was on Erza's back slowly nodding off when suddenly, screams could be heard.

"Erza-nee! What's happening?" cried Red, clutching onto her older sister in fear.

"I don't know Red, but we better get home soon," responded Erza, quickening her pace as she scanned the area.

The seemingly empty village became crowded as children were being chased from each road. Seeing the kidnappers, Erza dropped the bucket of strawberries and ran as fast she could, holding on to Red tightly.

An explosion occurred from the side of the street and the two were knocked over. Erza fell, scrapping the road while Red flew above her, hitting a wall and falling to the ground.

"POPPY!" cried Erza, getting up quickly and running to her sister.

Notcing that Poppy was unconscious, Erza picked her up and ran, searching for a hiding place. She found a large, empty container, made to keep farming equipment, and went inside, holding Poppy tight.

"It'll be okay Poppy. I promise" said Erza to the sleeping figure.

"HELPPPP MEEEE!" screamed a girl, Erza's age, with long black hair as she ran towards them.

Putting Poppy down carefully on the bottom of the container, Erza jumped out and ran to the girl.

"Come here! You can hide here!" cried Erza, grabbing the girl's hand and leading her toward the container.

She helped the girl inside, seeing Poppy awakening, when she heard the kidnappers coming near.

"I have to protect Poppy. I have to lead them away," she thought, quickly making a decision.

"Erza-nee, what's happening? My head hurts," moaned Poppy, blinking in confusion and pain.

Erza turned to the black-headed girl. "Take care of my sister please."

Poppy turned at this, staring at Erza.

"Erza-nee! Where are you going? Come here! Stay with me!" cried Poppy, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Erza smiled, though her eyes showed a great amount of sorrow and grief. "I'll always love you Poppy."

Poppy's eyes grew wide. "Erza-nee! Why aren't you hiding come on?!" Her voice growing louder and louder.

As Erza heard the kidnappers approach, she turned to Poppy.

"I'm sorry," she whispered before Erza punched her hysterical sister to knock her out and ran, catching the eyes of the kidnappers.

"There's another one!" yelled a kidnapper, pointing towards Erza.

Erza ran, as fast she could, with tears in her eyes but she was no match to the bigger, stronger adults.

They captured her and she soon left for the Tower of Heaven.

"Please be safe Poppy. Live." she whispered as she fell asleep, wrapping her arms around her as a boat took her towards her enslavement.

I held back my tears as Erza hugged me tight.

"That's how we were seperated" I whispered, clutching onto Erza as though she was my lifeline. She held me as though was going to disppear once more.

"Seven years is a long time," I thought sadly, leaning onto my sister.

The Guild stayed quiet yet I could hear the muffled cries of the members, including Lucy who was still next to me. I felt something wet on top of my head and looked up. Erza smiled at me as happy tears slowly left her eyes. I smiled back, my eyes closing into semi-circles.

"Never leave again Erza-nii," I whispered to her.

"I promise," she replied, hugging me once more.

The master cleared his throat and we turned towards him.

"I'm glad you two are reunited after all this time," said the master, "We will celebrate this reunion and the welcoming of our new nakama!"

The Guild cheered and began to leave towards the main hall.

"Wait," I called to them, my voice raw from all the emotions I felt. They turned back to me, curious.

"What is it Poppy?" asked Lucy, who was standing next to me since she was getting ready to leave to celebrate.

I looked to Erza and then to the Guild. I stood up and bowed to the master.

"I'm happy to be with my sister and I'm grateful for your kindness, but I...I don't belong to this guild..." I said quietly, looking at the ground. "I'm not nakama."

The pink haired boy grinned. "Don't be silly! Any family of Erza is part of our family!"

"We would love to have you here," added Wendy with a smile.

"Poppy, you're part of Fairy Tail now,' reassured Lucy, patting my shoulder.

"Welcome home Red," said Erza, holding my hand as she stood by me.

I beamed to her and the rest of the guild.

"Arigato!"

The master smiled back. "Let's get you a guild stamp and celebrate!"


	4. 4 The Guild

"You're now officially part of Fairy Tail," said Mirajane, a silver headed girl as old as Erza, as she stamped my right shoulder with an emerald green Fairy Tail mark.

"Arigato Mira-san!" I replied, marvelling at the new mark on my shoulder.

I turned around in my seat next to the bar counter. The main room of the guild was swarmed with members-my new nakama- drinking an laughing together. A brunette wearing what appeared to be a bikini top was drinking barrels and barrels of beer as three men stared at her in shock. A somewhat intimidating man with long, black hair and dozens of piercings covering his face, was wearing a white suit and playing a guitar on stage. The pink-haired boy and a black-haired boy with no shirt were having a food eating competition while a blue cat cheered them on. Wendy, Charle, and a boy my age also watched them and kept bringing more food to the table.

"This place is pretty crazy, huh?" asked Lucy, sitting on the empty chair on my left side.

I nodded. "But it's a fun kind of crazy. Everyone seems so happy!"

"That's Fairy Tail for you," she replied, smiling.

"I heard about Fairy Tail on my travels. People always said it was a strong guild- especially one team that ended up destroying half the town they were hired to help. I had also heard of a great mage with requip magic that most feare - and she had red hair. So, I began to learn more and more about Fairy Tail and slowly made my way in the hopes that Erza-nee would be here and she is!"

Lucy giggled. "That team that destroys everythig happens to be my team - Team Natsu. Natsu, the pink-headed boy over there," she said pointing to him as he stuffed chicken in his mouth, "Gray, the black-haired boy next to him who often strips his clothes for no reason," her finger moved to him, "Happy, the blue neko, Erza, myself, and occassionally, Wendy and Charle."

"You must go on a ton of adventures then," I said, smiling.

Lucy groaned. "You could call it that. It can be a huge headache."

I laughed. "You still have some really great memories though!"

Lucy looked out in the distance, at all the guild members around us, a smile curving her lips. "Yeah, I do."

I turned to face the guild, feeling the love and joy that each member that belonged to this giant family shared. Sorrow filled my heart slightly and Lucy took noticed of my sudden change in expressinons. She opened her mouth to say something yet we were quickly interupted.

"Eat up Red," said Erza, as she brought trays and trays of food to the counter, somehow balancing them all on top of each other without runing the delicious looking food. Both Lucy and my eyes grew wide when we saw the amount of food that she placed in front of us.

I stuttered, "Erza-nee! I...um...um..so much..."

She gave me a slight smirk but her eyes held some saddness. "It's been a while since we have eaten together and who knows how much you ate before you arrived here."

At that, I looked down in shame. It was true. I hadn't had a decent meal in a while.

She patted my back and I looked up to her. "For dessert, I made vanilla cake..."

"YAY!" I yelled.

She chuckled. "But you better eat first,' her hand motioning to the trays.

"I'll do my best!" I replied, grabbing a chicken leg to devour.

Both Erza and Lucy sat with me and ate. I, determined to eat vanilla cake, ignored the sounds around me and focused on the food. Erza was right and I was incredibly hungry.

"I haven't had a meal like this since...," I thought, my tongue enjoying the exquisive tastes of meat, salad, and fruit.

"Whoa! Erza, mini you sure can eat!" shouted the pink-haired boy, Natsu.

I stopped eating for a moment and turned towards him. "I'm just hungry."

At that moment, a chicken leg hit Natsu's head. Surprised, he turned around to see Gray smirking at him from the table.

"Oi! Flame Brain! Give up already?"

"Like Hell!" shouted Natsu. "Whatcha do that for?" he asked, stromping towards Gray.

"You just got up and left. I thought you were giving up since you knew you would lose to me," replied Gray, expressing no emotion.

With that, Natsu punched Gray across the room and a huge brawl began between the members. Food and bodies flew everywhere.

"Fire Dragon's Fist!" shouted Natsu, as he attempted to hit Gray but was blocked by a shield of ice.

"He...he...he knows dragon magic!" I thought nervously, staring at him in disbelief.

Unfortunately, I did not notice when Gray hit Natsu until he hit me. Literally. Natsu slammed into me, stoppig himself by grabbing the counter while I flew and hit the wall, the air knocked out of my lungs. I slumped to the ground in pain, trying to stop the spinning in my head. However, I could not stop the slight tears from escaping my eyes.

The Guild remained silent and still as Lucy and Wendy rain to me while Erza stood, head down, shadows covering her eyes. She slowly made her way to Natsu who was oblivious to what had just occurred.

"You're gonna get it Popsicle Stick!" yelled Natsu.

"Why did everyone stop fighting?" he asked, finally noticing everyone's shocked and fearful expressions.

"You idiot," growled Erza, spreading her killer aura around. Natsu, scared, turned to Erza just as she threw a punch at him. He flew, hitting the Guild doors and flying outside. Everyone continued to look at Erza, fearful of what she would do next. All of them realized that Erza was much more dangerous if her sister was involved.

"Poppy? Poppy? Are you okay? asked Lucy worridly, ignoring all that had occurred in the hall.

I groaned and shut my eyes. "My head..."

"That idiot! You are still injured!" cried Lucy. "Wendy, can you heal her?"

"I'll try," she replied as she placed her hands on my head. Immediately, I felt relief as the pain diminished.

I opened my eyes weakly, smiling. "That's a lot better. Thanks Wendy!"

Lucy and Wendy helped me stand up as I was still quite dizzy. I leaned onto Lucy, feeling exhausted.

"Poppy, are you alright?" asked Erza, walking to me with worry.

"I'm okay," I replied, smiling in an attempt to reassure her.

She looked over me and saw me leaning on Lucy.

"Didn't you make cake Erza-san?" asked Wendy, watching the two of us.

My eyes grew wide. "CAKE! ERZA-NEE, can I have some cake? Please! Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!" I begged, stumbling towards her and wrapping my arms around her waist as I gave her my remarkable puppy eyes.

Her brown eyes met my green ones and she chuckled. "Take it easy Red. I'll bring out the cake but you sit here and wait," as she led me to the bar counter.

"Okie-dokie!" I responded, sitting down in anticipation.

She smiled and went behind the bar to the kitchen area whie Lucy and Wendy sat next to me.

"Lucy-san, should I check up on Natsu?" asked Wendy.

Lucy drank some water. "I'm sure he'll be okay. He's taken a lot harder hits than that."

"That idiot will be fine. He deserved it," said Erza as she joined us, carrying a huge cake about my height.

I couldn't take my eyes off the cake as Erza began to slice pieces up. She placed a large slice in front of me.

"Dig in," she said, happily.

"Mmm," I mumbled, feeling myself move up and down.

"Huh, you're finally awake now," said Erza, turning her head to face me as I slowly opened my eyes.

She was carrying me piggy back style as we walked on a trail under the night stars. My head was resting on her right shoulder. My arms were wrapped around her neck and she held my legs up around her waist.

"I can walk," I mumbled sleepily.

"I don't mind," she responded quietly.

I smiled, "When did I fall asleep?"

"After you ate all the cake, I went to wash the dishes and I found you asleep when I came back. I knew you were tired so I left to take you home."

I layed my head on her shoulder, yawning. "I am tired."

She smiled as a large, rectangular building came to view. "Well, we are here now. Welcome to Fairy Hills."

She walked down the hill and towards this marvelous building. I stared in awe.

"This is where some of the Fairy Tail female guild members live. Cana, Wendy, MIra, and Levy all live here."

"Wow..."I gasped as we entered, staring at the giant hallway with glass chandeliers hanging from the decorated ceiling.

"This is where you will live from now on, with me,"said Erza.

"It's huge!"

She didn't respond immediately, instead she sighed. "Where did you live before Poppy?"

I didn't answer.

She sighed once more, "You will tell me right?"

I nodded. "Of course Erza-nee! Just...not now."

"Fair enough... I'll always be here for you Poppy. I'm never leaving you again," she replied as she opened a door.

The room we entered was large, with a king size bed in the middle. Armor and weapons laid about and two other doors led to other rooms that I assumed contained more armor. Other than all the armor and weaponry, the room appreared clean. Next to the bed was a small night stand that had a photo in the frame. I hopped off of Erza's back to see it.

It was of us. I was on Erza's back and we had a barrel of strawberries in front of us. I held my arms out as though I was trying to fly while Erza smiled back at me. We both had bright, happy grins.

 _"Erza-nee! Look how many stawbewwies I have! They're so big! Are we gonna make more cake?" I asked, tugging my sister's sleeve and pointing at the small pile of strawberries I had wrapped around my shirt._

 _"Good job Poppy! We will definitely make some strawberry cake and we can even share some of it with the villagers!" she said, smiling down at me and ruffling my hair, "Let's put those strawberries in the barrel before you get all dirty again."_

 _"Okie dokie!" I chirped, dumping the strawberries carefully into the barrel by her feet, "All done!"_

 _"Alright Poppy, why don't you stay here by the barrel? I'm going to get a few more from down the hill and then we can go back home," said Erza, pointing to the field on the otherside of the hill._

 _"Okay!" I replied, sitting by the barrel and looking up to her, "I wait wight here until you come back. So huwway back!"_

 _She chuckled and began to jog away, "I'll be back in no time. Just wait right there. If not, no cake for you. I'll it all by myself!"_

 _I gasped, "No, Nee-san! I want cake! I stay here."_

 _I layed back on the grass and began to look at the clouds. Soon enough, I fell asleep._

 _"Poppy? It's time to wake up?" said Erza, shaking me slightly before lifting me up._

 _"Erza-nee?" I mumbled sleepily, wiping the sleep from my eyes._

 _"I know how to wake you up...How about I take you flying?" she said and I instantly jumped out of her arms, looking up to her and waving my arms up and down._

 _"Flying?! Please please please! You said so Erza-nee! Take me flying!" I rapidly said, tugging at her sleeves again._

 _She laughed and then lifted me to her back, "Alright you ready?"_

 _I wrapped my legs around her, "Ready."_

 _She began to run and I put my arms out, shrieking in delight while Erza laughed. At that moment, I heard a click and a villager took a photo of us._

"That was the only item left when I went back to the village," said Erza as she stood behind me.

I turned to her and hugged her once more. "I guess we'll just have to take more!"

"I guess we will," she replied, hugging me back.


	5. 5 Nightmares

The next couple of days, Erza moved me in with her. It turns out her room led to four more rooms - all containing armor, weapons, and costumes. We cleaned the rooms together and I ended up getting a room to myself - a large one at that - right next to Erza's room. We added a bed, desk, and wardrobe into the room. Seeing as I owned nothing, which made Erza quite upset, she and Lucy took me out shopping. We ended up buying a second wardrobe to fit all the clothes - some of which Erza-nee found to revealing but Lucy bought anyway. Levy came by and took me book shopping and now my room appear to be a sort of miniature library with the two giant bookshelves I bought. Wendy and I explored the town together, finding an ice cream shop in the plaze.

"Did you have fun today?" asked Erza as we ate cake together on the floor of her room.

I nodded. "Wendy and I found a lake and went swimming in it! I haven't swam in a while! Later, we found this yummy ice cream shop!"

She chuckled, "Well, I am glad you enjoyed yourself today."

"Mmmmhmm," I nodded, eating more cake. "We should go together one day!"

"Sure."

We sat and talked for another hour before Erza made me go to bed. I wished her good-night and went to my room to sleep.

 _I stood near the edge of a large forest, alone._

 _"No...Please...No..." I said, recognizing my surroundings._

 _"No one is here for you Poppy," replied a low, deep, rumbling voice from the fields behind me._

 _"That's not true!" I yelled fearfully, looking around to find the source of the voice._

 _"Your parents are gone. Your friends are gone. Kagura has left you. Violet is nowhere to be seen. Gaia disappeared. Even your dear older sister has deserted you," replied the voice._

 _My eyes grew wide as my body began to quiver._

 _"No..." I whispered. "Gaia and Kagura and Violet didn't leave me...Kagura and Violet stayed with me...I just...I got lost and she...she couldn't find me...but Gaia did! She took care of me and taught me magic! She loved me..." I said, scared, " Erza-nee didn't leave me either! She never would!"_

 _"So where are they now?"_

 _I stood still._

 _"You woke up and your sister was not there, Kagura was. You turned around and Kagura disappeared while Violet never came back. Gaia was there one night and no where to be found the following morning. Everyone left you," said the voice, coming closer to me._

 _"Nonononononononono," I mumbled as tears began to flow from my eyes._

 _"I have not left you. You left me," replied the voice._

 _I shook my head at that. "You...You're... You're evil!"_

 _The voice chuckled, "Yet I have never left you."_

 _"You hurt me!"_

 _"Didn't your so called family hurt you? Leaving you all lone, injured?" questioned the voice._

 _I stood silent once more. My fists clutched to my sides._

 _"You can not leave me Poppy. I will find you," answered the voice._

 _"No!" I shouted, scared, running into the forest for safety._

 _I ran as fast as possible, ignoring the cuts I gained from the branches and jumped over obstacles yet a tree root sprang from no where and I fell, skidding across the ground._

 _"Here," cackled the voice beside me, laughing._

 _I screamed._

"Poppy?! Poppy! POPPY! Wake up Poppy!"

I gasped and opened my eyes, sitting up on my bed. Erza stood above me, her hands holding my shoulders, eyes wide with worry.

"Erza-nee!" I cried, hugging her tightly as I wepted into her chest.

She held me, stroking my back and brushing my hair as she rocked me back and forth.

"Shhh...It's okay Poppy. It was just a nightmare. Shhh...It's okay. I'm here with you. Nothing will hurt you," she whispered in attempt to reassure me.

"Erza-nee..." I cried, unable to stop my body from shaking.

"I'm right here Poppy. You're okay," she replied quietly, holding me tighter.

We stayed like that for ages, I crying and scared while she held me tight to calm me down. Eventually, my body stopped shaking and I ran out of tears to shed. I kept hugging her while she stroked my hair in silence for a while. Finally, I let go and sat up, wiping the tears from my eyes. It was then that I noticed that I was still in my room. The last few nights, I would somehow end up near Erza's armor on the ground. Erza never questioned me about it but I could see the worry and sorrow in her eyes when she saw me wake up from there.

"Are you okay Poppy?" asked Erza, eyes still filled with worry.

I nodded slowly, "It was just a bad dream." My eyes teared up slightly from thinking about it.

Erza noticed this, sat down, and pulled me to her, sitting me on her lap and holding me. She rested her chin on the top of my head.

"I'll always be here for you Poppy. I will protect you."

"He can't find you, Poppy. You're okay," I thought.

"Erza-nee?" I asked, my voice raw.

Erza looked at me, her worried brown eyes meeting my frightened green eyes, still holding me.

I cleared my throat, " Can I sleep with you?"

She smiled at me, "Of course Red."

I stood up to allow her to stand and we walked to her bed. I snuggled to her side, feeling calm and safe, as she placed an arm around me. As I drifted back off to a dreamless sleep, I heard Erza say softly, her voice filled with guilt:

"What happened to you Poppy?"


	6. 6 The Mission

"Are you okay Poppy?" asked Lucy, sitting next to me by the bar counter.

I nodded slowly. "I...I'm...I'm okay. Just tired."

Lucy looked at me in concern, "Why don't you get sleep then?"

I layed my head on my arms over the counter.

"I...I can't...I've had some nightmares..." I responded slowly. Erza-nee had brought me to the guild in the hopes to cheer me up.

"About what?" asked Lucy worriedly.

I stayed quiet. I had not talked to Erza-nee about it yet and did not want to necessarily want to talk about it. I wasn't ready to talk about my past. Luckily, Natsu saved me by running in to the guild shouting.

"Lucy! Let's go on a mission! We haven't gone in weeks!"

Lucy looked at Natsu and then to me. "Well...I do need to pay my rent...You should come with us Poppy. It will be fun!"

Hearing my name, Erza came over to make sure I was okay. The last two nights I have slept with her since I was too scared alone. I also talked less which worried Erza. She had brought me to the guild to see if being surrounded by others would help.

"What's going on?" asked Erza,

"Flame brain here wants to go on a mission with Lucy and Lucy invited your sister to join the team" responded Gray, walking over, sipping a glass of water.

"Hey! No one asked you to come Popsicle stick!" yelled Natsu.

Gray sighed, "Someone needs to keep you out of trouble."

Erza quickly put her hand over my eyes and I felt her anger.

Lucy whispered, "Gray! Your clothes!"

"Shit!" I heard Gray said and Erza soon removed her hand from my eyes. Gray was fully dressed looking at Erza fearfully.

"Come on! Let's go on a mission then!" whined Natsu. "Mini Erza can come too!"

Erza looked at me and nodded, "That sounds like an excellent idea. Let's go on a mission."

"Yes!" shouted Natsu.

"We already picked one out!" replied Happy, cheerfully jumping up and down.

We were just about to leave, seeing as Erza had somehow had all her belongings and even some of mine on top of a little, red wagon outside the guild, when Gray stopped.

"Poppy, you can use magic right?"

The others looked at me, curiously.

"Now that I think of it...I have never seen you use magic since you arrived," said Lucy while Erza nodded, watching me carefully.

"I...I can use magic...I learned..." I responded carefully, fighting back the tears.

"She taught me...and then she left...and he took me away...and..." I thought, rubbing my left wrist unconsciously and nervously.

Erza notcied my change in demeanor and wrapped her arm around me. I looked up to her.

She smiled, "Don't worry Red. We will protect you so you do not have to use you magic if you do not want to."

"Of course!"

"Bet on it."

"You can count on me."

"Aye sir!" shouted the others.

I smiled back and nodded. "Arigato! But don't let me hold you down! I can still help!"

"Let's go then!" shouted Natsu, leading the way.

"I didn't think we were taking a train," I moaned, learning into Erza as my stomach churned.

Natsu sat on the other bench across from me, laying across the seat while his head rested on Lucy's lap. Erza had knocked him out as soon as he started feeling ill. Gray sat next to the window on Erza's right side while I sat on her left. Happy sat next to on my left.

"It's the fastest way to get to the village," replied Erza, wrapping an arm around me and pushing me closer to her, "I did not know that you have motion sickness."

I closed my eyes, clutching my stomach with my arms. "I prefer to travel over land."

"You should try to rest then," replied Lucy.

I mumbled tiredly, thinking of all the nightmare I've had, "I don't want to..."

"Red, wake up," I heard Erza say, taking me away from the darkness.

I felt my body move up and down and saw that Erza was carrying me piggy-back style.

"What..." I slurred, opening my eyes to see a dozen of small, bright lights.

"We're here sleepy-head!" replied Lucy, giggling.

"You fell asleep on the train ride and kept sleeping during our walk here," said Erza.

I kept my head on her shoulder, "I'm really tired..."

"You can't be tired now! We have a mission!" yelled Natsu, energetically.

"Yeah but it's too late to start it now. We are only going to see the chief to find out how we're going to help," responded Gray, "We will have to form a plan tonight and begin tomorrow."

"That must be the chief there," said Lucy, pointing at a small man wuth a long white beard.

I hopped off of Erza's back, stumbling a bit from not walking for a while.

"Are you the mages we requested?" asked the man.

Natsu pulled out the mission paper. "We are from Fairy Tail and we'll take care of your problems!"

The man nodded. "I am Farron. This village's chief. Please, come with me." He began to walk into a large hut.

We followed him inside and stoof in a semicircle around a table. I stood on the right edge while Erza, Lucy, Gray, Natsu, and Happy stood on my left.

Farron sighned. "Our village has recently been attacked by a group of dark mages who have stolen our food and treasures. Our men have tried to stop them but were hurt. We need you to stop them and return our items to us as we need it to trade."

Erza nodded. "We will capture the mages for you tomorrow."

"Can you describe them to us?" asked Lucy.

He shook his head. "Unfortunately, we have not gotten a close look at the mages."

"No worries! I'll sniff 'em out! You can count on us!" replied Natsu.

Farron nodded. "Thank you all. You will be able to rest in the hut across this one as it is vacant. I wish you the best of luck."

"Thanks!" I replied, slowly walking out.

Once we reached our hut, we sat around to discuss the plan to capture the mages and soon went to bed. I layed in between Erza and Lucy, hearing the snores of the boys and the quiet breaths of the girls. Erza had an arm around me while Lucy held my hand.

"It's not him," I thought, falling asleep.


	7. 7 Trouble

**Here's the next chapter! Please Review and let me know what you think and I'll be sure to post a new chapter soon (after finals)**

 **"** Poppy! Wake up!"

I sat up straight and opened my eyes. "What's going on?"

Erza stood over me. "You were beginning to moan and whimper in your sleep. I told the others to leave and get ready for the mission in case you were having another nightmare."

I blinked, confused. "I...I don't remember... but my heart is beating pretty fast right now."

Erza looked at me. "Well, you should get up and get ready for the mission...just let me know if you are okay."

I nodded. "Yup! Gimmie a minute!"

Soon, we both walked out of the hut and to the back of the village to find the others.

"Took you long enough!" shouted Natsu as we approached them.

They were sitting on some rocks next to a forest. Erza stood next to Gray who was looking at a map while I sat next to Lucy on the ground.

"In order to cover more ground, we will split up. Natsu and Happy will take the left trail, Gray will take the right, Lucy will follow the center trail and I will take the furthest trail with Poppy. We are to meet back here in one hour. If you find the mages, try to lead them towards the border so that they cannot run and hide within the forest. If you need assistance at any point, try to release some magic and let others know. This guys may be dangerous so don't take it too lightly. Is everyone ready?" asked Erza, looking at all of us.

"Erza? Shouldn't someone guard the border if they happen to try and run away? We have enough people," said Gray, looking around at us.

"Mini Erza can stay here!" exclaimed Natsu, looking at me.

Lucy smacked him, "Baka! First off, she has a name and her name is Poppy! Second, don't you think it would be safer for her to stay with Erza in case she runs into trouble?"

"But she can use magic! She'll be fine," said Natsu.

"Baka," mumbled Gray, "She doesn't use it remember?"

Natsu looked at Gray confused, "But she smells of magic!"

Lucy smacked Natsu again, "Honestly! Do you ever learn?! Besides, Erza's thought this though and..."

"I can stay here," I said, hoping to end the bickering.

They turned to look at me. Erza looked worried and about to say no but I interjected.

"I'll be fine here. I can just stay and watch. If they come, I can hide behind some rocks and watch where they go. Then, when you guys come back, I can tell you where they went and we can follow their trail."

Gray looked at Erza, "It seems like a good idea..."

Erza kept her eyes at me, contemplating, before she took a deep breath. "Fine, Poppy will stay here and guard the border. The rest of us, let's get going. The sooner we can catch these guys, the better."

"I'm all fired up!" shouted Natsu, running into the forest towards the trail while Happy followed behind.

"I'm not letting Flame Brain find these guys before I do!" cried Gray as he departed.

Lucy sighed walking to her trail, "Those idiots."

Erza looked at me closely as I stood up from the ground. "Will you be okay Poppy? I can stay here if you want..."

I shook my head. "No it's okay, I'll be fine. You go catch those bad guys Erza-nee! I got it from here!"

She continued to look at me before nodding. "If anything happens Poppy, run. Run and hide. Shout for me and I'll come find you."

I smiled. "No worries Nee-san! I got this covered."

She smiled back, "Alright. See you in an hour."

"Good-luck!" I called at her as she began to walk away.

"I'll be back soon! Then we can celebrate with cake!" she called, glancing over to me.

"Hurry back!"

She looked at me once more, smiling and waving, before she disappeared into the trees.

I looked around me to see it all quite empty.

"This is going to be boring," I thought to myself, walking towards the rock Natsu was sitting on earlier.

I climbed up the rock and stood atop of it so that I can see the border better. The village was behind me along with some fields of wheat while the large, green, forest stood before me. The trails sprawled out and zigzagged behind shrubby bushes. They were clear from debris so it meant that they have been used often enough.

I sat down and faced the forest.

"This is going to be one long hour..." I mumbled, already bored.

Minutes passed and I stayed still on the rock, looking left and right for some movement, tapping my fingers on the rock

"I haven't used magic in while..." I thought, as my fingers twitched in anticipation, "Maybe I could..."

Instantly I stood up, jumping below the rock and landing easily on my feet.

I clapped my hands together and smiled excitedly. "This will be fun," I thought.

I could feel my magic buzzing in anticipation, wanting to be released after a long time of staying within me.

Just as I was about to use magic, a memory flashed in my head. One I had no desire to remember. One filled with pain and sorrow.

 _"Leave me alone!" I shouted, crying in agony as my left wrist was bound to a wall._

 _"Come on now Poppy. This does not have to painful. Do what I have asked you to do. I do not want to hurt you," replied a voice._

 _I cried harder. "I...I can't! I'm not that strong! I don't want to use my magic for that!"_

 _The voice sighed. "We have been through this before Poppy."_

 _I shook my head, terrified. "No! Please don't. Just..Let me go...I'll do anything but that."_

 _"I warned you Poppy. You are wasting my time."_

 _My eyes grew wide as I felt my magic being pulled away from me. I struggled against my restrains to try to find an escape._

 _I screamed as electricity shocked me and ripped me of the majority of my magic, leaving only a bit so that I would survive for another round._

 _"That's it Poppy. You are giving me more and more each time."_

 _I fell in agony and exhaustion as the chains burned my skin and stretched my joints._

 _"Why?" I thought, letting the darkness take me away._

I found myself sitting on the ground as the memory disappeared, hands shaking slightly.

I shook my head. "It's okay Poppy. He's not here anymore. He can't do that to you anymore. Your magic is yours to use, just like Gaia taught you."

I took a deep breath. "You can use your magic again. Nothing will happen," digging my hands in the dirt and feeling calmer.

My magic buzzed once more and I laughed in joy and excitement.

"Look. It's Poppy. The master wants her again. Let's take her back boys," said a voice I recognized.

I opened my eyes and saw three men, mages, standing in front of me, carrying large bags. The man who spoke was a teenager, Natsu's age, in front of the two other men. He had piercings on his right ear was wearing a vest with no shirt under and large, purple pants. His partners, years older, looked like brothers, both large and muscly, wearing black pants and black V-necks. One of the brothers had short black hair and a large, stubby nose while the other had long black hair and a short, pinched nose. Each man had a guild symbol tattooed on their chests - a symbol, I knew all too well.

"Why did you run away Poppy? Didn't you want to stay with us? We've missed you- especially the master." said the young man, looking a bit sad and angry.

I stood up, facing them and showing no fear.

"Otto. I couldn't stay there anymore! I didn't want to be there! He's evil!" I replied.

Otto chuckled, "That's not your choice. The master took you in and you had to stay. You are just a child and need guidance."

"Otto, please! You were my only friend back there. Leave me alone and let me stay here," I pleaded to him.

Otto chuckled evilly and I could see that he had changed from the sweet, caring friend he once was.

"I took care of you Poppy! I always made sure you were okay. I stole food for you and healed your wounds. I treated you like a little sister and then you disappeared without even saying good-bye. I thought you were dead! Guess who the master blamed?! After all I did for you, you left me and I received the punishment. Now, it's your turn." He glared at me and pulled out a bow and arrow from the bag behind him.

I took a couple steps back.

"Otto...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to hurt you! I needed to get away and you know that!" I said, tears flowing down my cheeks. "Don't make me hurt you. We are still friends. I don't want to hurt you but I'm not going back."

Otto smirked. "It's too late for apologies. You will never hurt me again. It's your turn now."

"What happened to you?" I mumbled, sad and scared.

He let go of the arrow. "Arrow magic: Immobilize!"

I ducked and hid behind a rock.

"Boulder magic: Disintegrate!"

The rock before me turned to pieces and I was expose, seeing the smirk on stubby nose's face.

Otto laughed, "You can't hide Poppy. We've grown stronger. The master has helped us."

I held my hands up and walked back slowly. "Otto...Please! I don't want to use my magic. You know why!"

He pulled out three more arrows, "Surrender then," he put his bow down. "We could be together again."

I shook my head, "No! I want to grow up free. I don't want to go back there..."

He held his bow up, "Too bad. Arrow magic: Follow!"

I ran as fast as I could but the arrows followed me.

"You can't keep running! The arrows will reach you soon since they are powered by my magic," shouted Otto as he saw me running in between rocks.

"Mud Style: Quicksand! Boulder Magic: Grow!"

I fell to the ground, as my feet began sinking in quicksand and the rocks before me grew to hold me in place.

"Arrow magic: sleep!"

I saw the three arrows head towards me and I closed my eyes.

"Guess I have to use my magic," I thought, opening my mouth as power slowly flowed through me.

Suddenly, I heard the arrows snap in half and someone lifted me up from the quicksand and onto the ground.

I opened my eyes and saw Erza standing in front of me, sword in hand while the bits of broken arrow fell from her hand. She let go of me and moved forward.

Otto smirked, "Oh the great Titania is here. Leave the girl to us and we will be on our way. She's our belonging."

Erza radiated anger and I saw Otto's smile fade slightly.

"You three have attacked this village and stolen goods from them. You are criminals and I will take you in for that," she paused, "Not only that but you dared to harm my little sister and no one ever gets away with that."

Otto frowned but later smiled. "Guess our Poppy here is even more powerful than she implied. Master will be happy to hear this."

Erza raised her sword. "You will not lay another finger on her."

Otto smiled wickedly, "We'll see about that. Arrow Magic: Rampage!"

"Reequip: Empress Armor!"

The two engaged in battle, arrows and swords everywhere. I stood back in awe.

"Erza-nee sure is strong! And Otto has grown stronger. I bet it's _his_ doing," I thought.

"Don't forget about us," snarled pinched nosed, grabbing me and covering my mouth with his sweaty, large hand.

I fought back in shock. Erza was fighting three of them and yet one was right here with me.

"Mud style magic. I'm a doppelganger made of mud," replied the man, pulling my hair and lifting me over his shoulder like a bag of rice.

"Dammit!" I thought, punching him as hard as I could.

He smacked my head, causing me to grow slack in pain.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Suddenly, I was dropped to the ground. I landed painfully and held my head, shutting my eyes tightly.

"Poppy! Poppy! Are you okay?" asked Lucy, kneeling beside me and shaking me slightly.

"My head...hurts...I'll be fine," I said, reaching into the ground a bit to regain some power.

I opened my eyes and waited for the black spots of pain to leave. My head felt numb but I could still see.

Natsu and Gray were fighting pinched nose while Erza fought all three men.

"Lucy! Get her out of here! We'll take care of these guys!" shouted Gray, punching the man before he reached me and creating an ice floor so that no more doppelgangers could be made in the area.

"Got it!" said Lucy, pulling me up carefully and grabbing my hand to run.

"I'm sorry Poppy but we have to go. You're hurt," said Lucy, dragging me to run with her.

"But... It's me they want!" I replied, adrenaline filling my body and numbing the pain.

Lucy stopped and we hid behind a boulder. "You're part of our family and they won't be taking you away!" she hugged me tightly and we stayed quiet for a moment.

"Found you!" said Otto climbing over the boulder and jumping in front of you.

"How...Erza-nee!" I cried, standing up in worry. Lucy stood in front of me, one arm over my chest to keep me from running.

Otto laughed, "She's a bit...preoccupied..."

I turned and saw swarms and swarms of arrows flying over Erza. She stood, determined and angry as she sliced each one up one by one. Little did she know that stubby nose was nearby, expanding a boulder and slowly making it roll down a hill, right to where she stood.

"Erza!" cried Lucy, in shock, her arm dropping from me.

"Noooo!" I shouted running towards my sister.

Otto laughed and grabbed me, holding me by my arms. "Oh no you don't Poppy. You only have one sibling and that's me."

I shook in anger and fear.

Lucy pulled out her keys but Otto called out an arrow and took them away from her.

"No you don't. The powerful Erza must go down."

My body shook and I screamed as loud as I could, power pouring out of my body. The ground cracking below me and Otto let go of me in order to stay standing. The trees around us grew tall and wide and the mud doppelgangers that Natsu and Gray were fighting became puddles of water as the dirt flew in the air. They looked at me in shock while Erza, scared, turned to me.

"Poppy!" she mouthed, worried, taking her attention off from the arrows around her.

I saw stubby nose release the boulder.

"EARTH DRAGON'S ROAR!" I yelled, taking a deep breath and inhaling the dirt around me and then exhaling, hand out in front of my mouth, and sending it towards the boulder.

Both stubby nose and pinched nose fell down from the power while the arrows and the boulder were destroyed by my roar. Erza stood, untouched by the earth, looking at me with wide eyes. Gray, Lucy, and Happy looked at me in shock while Natsu grinned happily.

"I knew it! I could smell it off you!" he shouted.

"You really have grown stronger," said Otto has he came up behind me and grabbed my left wrist.

On instinct, I yelped and fell to the ground, awaiting for the pain to come.

"Oi! Let her go!" shouted Natsu, running towards us.

"Not so fast!" said Otto, twisting my left wrist and pinching it tightly causing me to scream in pain, "Come closer and she gets it."

Natsu stopped, boiling in anger and Erza came behind him.

"You let her go," she commanded, eyes intense with rage.

"Poppy, you can do it. You are not there again. You can use your magic freely," I thought to myself, ignoring the pain and trying to calm down.

Otto laughed, "I don't think so. She's useful."

Erza moved forward but stopped when Otto twisted my wrist more. I closed my eyes and cried harder.

"One more move forward and I'll break her wrist."

Erza stood still, eyes throwing daggers at him but not wanting to cause me more pain.

"You won't take her away," said Erza, dangerously.

"Oh but I will!" said Otto, producing a magic transporter from his pocket. "We always escape and get what we want."

Erza shook in rage moving ever so slightly, "Don't you dare!"

Otto smiled and twisted my wrist. I could feel by bone splitting and I knew I only had a second.

"Earth Dragon's Tremor!" I yelled, causing the ground to shake and Otto to lose his grip on me. I called the Earth towards me and pulled it up, raising myself above him.

"I'll be back Poppy," said Otto, cursing as he threw the transporter at the ground and disappeared.

I smiled slightly. "My magic is mine again. I don't feel..."

My left wrist stung and electricity coursed through my veins. My body twitched and I screamed in pain.

"Otto...you did it...when you grabbed my wrist...you were my friend...why Otto," I thought, giving in to the pain and letting gravity pull me down.

"Erza-nee," I mumbled, mind going blank.


	8. Chapter 8

**I have the next chapters written and ready to publish so just let me know what you think! Enjoy!**

"Erza, she will be fine. Wendy healed her injuries and Porlyusica took the magic bound off her. Not all of her magic was taken. She only needs to rest," I heard a feminine voice say, growing louder and louder in sound.

Someone sighed in frustration and exhaustion. "Lucy, I know but I can't help and be worried for her! He almost broke her wrist and took all her magic! And you heard what Wendy said! That wrist has never healed properly before! Porlysica had to re-break it just so she could heal it properly! Plus, she's still asleep even though she has magic..."

"Why can't I keep sleeping?" I mumbled, opening my eyes to see the same ceiling I saw only a couple weeks ago. I was back in the Guild's infirmary.

"What?" I thought, confused trying to remember how I came back here.

"Poppy!" exclaimed the two girl voices I had heard.

I slowly turned my head to the left to where the voices had come from. As my vision became clear, I saw Erza-nee and Lucy. Lucy smiled at me, waving her hand while Erza smiled and sighed in relief, closing her eyes for a brief moment.

"Konnichiwa," I responded, smiling slightly.

Erza came by and hugged me. "How are you feeling?"

I sat up on my bed, moving lethargically as my body felt sluggish. "Tired...but fine," I said, as Erza helped me up.

Erza and Lucy sat on the bed to me left. "How long have I been asleep?"

Lucy looked at me sadly," Four days."

"That's not that long," I thought, remembering that I had passed out for much longer periods of time.

"What happened to me?" I asked curiously, trying hard to remember.

Erza frowned. "You used your magic. A man – Otto – attempted to kidnap you and restarted the seal on your left wrist. Your magic was stripped out of you, leaving the bare minimum for you to stay alive."

"You don't remember?" asked Lucy, sounding worried.

I shook my head slightly, scrunching my face as I tried to remember. "I...I remember bits and pieces…"

"What do you remember Poppy?"

I looked at Erza-nee. "I remember you… fighting? I remember…Otto! He… he _hurt_ me… I used my magic! And then…" I stayed quiet, remembering the pain.

Erza nodded, "You had a seal on your left wrist that Otto activated. It..it…It drained almost all your magic, leaving you barely enough to survive." She said, her voice a bit raw as she lost some of her composure. She bowed her head down, fists shaking.

Carefully, I stood up from the bed and went to her.

"Poppy! You should stay in bed!" she said as I hugged her as tight as I could, which was quite weak due to my lack of energy.

"I'm fine," I mumbled, though I felt incredibly dizzy.

Erza picked me up and sat me back on the bed. "You still need to rest."

"Poppy, you've gained back a lot of magic in the last few days but only because Porlyusica took the seal off you. You still have a while to recover," replied Lucy, standing up and walking to stand next to Erza.

I stayed silent.

"No worries, Red. You'll be fine," Erza added, sitting on the side of my bed.

"Lucy?" I asked, "Can you tell the Guild I'm awake? I want to tell you where I lived before I came here- why I know Dragon Slayer magic and why Otto kidnapped me."

Lucy nodded, surprised, "I'll be right back."

"I knew you were a Dragon Slayer!" shouted Natsu, opening the infirmary doors and revealing the guild behind him.

"Of course, they're here," mumbled Lucy, stepping back and sitting on the bed again.

"How are you feeling?" asked Wendy, walking up to me bed.

"Good! Tired, but a lot better! Arigato for all your help," I replied, smiling.

"No problem! I'm glad I could help!" she said smiling and bowing down a bit.

"Poppy, can you tell us more about your past?" asked the Master, standing near the foot of my bed.

Erza wrapped her arm around me and I leaned against her chest. "You don't have to if you are not comfortable with it," she whispered.

I looked up and smiled shyly at her. "You deserve to know Erza-nee." I looked to Lucy, Wendy, and the rest of the guild, "And you guys should know too."

I looked down to my hands and saw the bandages around my left wrist.

"I'll start at the beginning, what happened after Erza left and I woke up...

When I woke up…"

 _"Erza-nee…" I whispered, slowly opening my eyes._

 _"Erza-nee, my head hurts," seeing black spots in my vision._

 _When my vision cleared, I saw that I was in a box, a tools box, and alone._

 _"Erza-nee?" Are we playing hide-and-seek? I wanna eat the strawberries." I called out, standing up and holding the side of the box._

 _As I peered over the edge, I saw the destruction of my village. The buildings laid in ruins. Smoke rose from the distance._

 _"Erza-nee?! Nee-san?!" I cried out, tears flowing down my check. "Wahhhhhhh!" I sat back in the box, wailing since I was alone._

 _"It looks like you finally woke up."_

 _I opened my eyes, rubbing the tears away with the back of my hands._

 _"Erza-nee? Erza-nee, where awe you?" I called with my squeaky voice, standing once more._

 _A head popped out, with short, straight, black hair, and yellow-green eyes, in front of me._

 _"You're not Erza-nee!" I shrieked, falling back to the bottom and smacking my head against the wall._

 _"Wahhhhhh!" I cried harder, holding my head tightly as I laid on the bottom._

 _"Oh no. Looks like you hit your head again, "the girl responded calmly, climbing into the box and sitting beside me. She wrapped her arms around me and held me as I wept in pain, fear, confusion, and sorrow._

 _"You know…My older brother – Simon – has disappeared too," she said quietly._

 _I stopped crying to listen to her._

 _"Simon was taking me to the shop, to have some ice cream, when the village was attacked. We were separated and I couldn't find him, so I began to cry. Then someone grabbed my hand and pulled me along; she had fiery red hair."_

 _"That's my Erza-nee!" I exclaimed, hoping this stranger knew where Erza was._

 _She nodded slightly, looking down at me._

 _"Do ya know where she is?" I asked, desperately wanting my sister._

 _She shook her head, "Your sister put me in this box with you. You were asleep. She told me to watch over you and then she ran, getting captured by the same people who took my brother."_

 _"So she's gone?" I asked, my eyes becoming teary once more._

 _She hugged me, tears in her eyes. "They're both gone. My Simon and your Erza."_

 _I cried in her arms and felt her tears hit the top of my head."_

 _We sat together, crying at our losses as I sat on her lap. As we both calmed down, she spoke once more._

 _"I'll take care of you – like your sister did to me. We'll go looking for them. We'll find them and be together._

 _I wiped my face and nodded, "Okay."_

 _She moved a bit, taking me off of her and standing up._

 _"I'm Kagura. I'm nine years old," she said, smiling and holding her hand out._

 _"My name's Poppy and I'm four," I said, taking her hand and then giving her a hug._

 _She giggled. "I can't be Erza for you and you're not Simon but we can still be family. We have each other and we will find them._

 _I nodded, "Hei!"_

 _We climbed out of the box and walked away, away from the life we both knew, holding hands together as we dealt with our losses._

"Don't stop there! What happened next? How come Kagura isn't with you now?" asked Natsu impatiently. Lucy smacked him in the head as Erza glared at him.

"Idiot!" grumbled Gray.

"Let me catch my breath," I replied, drinking a glass of water that Wendy held out.

"Okay, we had no idea where to start or where to go. We walked away from the village though, knowing we could not stay as it was not home without our siblings. So we walked, following a trail to another village, with nothing to call our own but each other. We walked for days and luckily we were found before we were hurt…"

 _"Kaguwa, I can't walk anymore," I moaned, panting with each step, stumbling as my legs struggled to hold me up._

 _Kagura, who was walking in front of me, turned to face me._

 _"We can take a break soon, let's just make it up that hill okay?" she said, walking ahead and heading up._

 _"Okay," I mumbled quietly, not wanting to disappoint her. I continued on, sweating and panting, focusing on reaching the top to rest. My feet weighed me down and dragged me up while my head spun in circles._

 _"Poppy! We're here! Look, there's a village down below!" called Kagura excitedly, pointing down._

 _"Erza-nee?" I sighed, before falling on the ground in exhaustion, breathing quickly._

 _"Poppy? Poppy!" I heard Kagura yell, rushing towards me._

 _I felt arms around me and opened my eyes in confusion._

 _"Nee-san?" I whispered, trying to focus on the blurry image before me._

 _"Poppy? Poppy! It's Kagura! Remember me? You're going to be okay, okay? I'll carry you to the village and we'll get help okay?" I heard her say frantically as I felt my body be lifted. My arms wrapped around her neck and she lifted my legs to carry me, almost like a baby. I felt her run and my body jump up and down as my chin rested on her shoulder._

 _"Kagura? I'm….so….tired….Sleepy…" I mumbled, closing my eyes to rest._

 _"Help! Please help! She needs helps! She's ill!" yelled Kagura desperately._

 _"Kagura…" I whispered once more before falling asleep._

 _"When will she wake up? Is she okay? What's wrong with her?"_

 _"She will be okay. You brought her right on time. Her head injury, a concussion, weakened her immune system. Add that to the long journey you took with little food and her young age and you will find that she is more susceptible to illness. She had a high fever and was dehydrated. We healed her head injury and her fever has gone down. She will be fine. Let her rest."_

 _"Are you sure?"_

 _"Yes, I'm sure. You also need to rest. You were dehydrated when you came and, though you show no signs of anything else, you still need to let your body rest. Why don't you go to sleep? I'm sure when you wake up, Poppy will wake up."_

 _"Okay."_

 _I heard footsteps walk out of the room and felt someone lay beside me._

 _"Please be okay Poppy. I don't want to lose anyone else."_

 _I fell asleep once more, confused._


	9. Mermaid Heel

**Thank you for the reviews! I know the ages don't all match up the ages in the manga so I will be working on that. :) Please keep letting me know what you think!**

 **"** You were always fragile," said Erza, "You easily caught illness, if you weren't careful."

"That's only 'cuz you never let me do anything," I replied, drinking more water.

"What happened next Poppy? Who was helping you? Where were you?" questioned Lucy.

"Well…"

 _I woke up and saw that I was lying on a bed in a small room with one other bed that was empty. The room was a light violet with pink decorations._

 _"Where_ _am I?" I mumbled, frightened._

 _"Erza-nee?! Nee-san?!" I yelled, beginning to cry out of fear and loneliness._

 _The door next to the other bed opened and Kagura ran in._

 _"Poppy! You're awake!" she exclaimed, jumping on the bed and hugging me._

 _"Kagura?" I asked I stopped crying._

 _She held me out, "Of course it's me Poppy! I told you, we'll stick together now as we are family."_

 _"Kagura!" I said happily, hugging her tightly._

 _She giggled and returned the hug, "That's me!"_

 _I let of her and looked around, "Kagura, where are we?"_

 _The door opened once more and a tall, slim teenager came in. She had deep purple hair and dark blue eyes. Her cherry lips were curved to a smile as she walked towards us. I, scared, moved behind Kagura._

 _"There's no need to worry," said the purple haired lady with a high sweet voice, her hands up and smiling, "My name is Violet and I'm a member of Mermaid Heel. I've been watching over you and Kagura._

 _Kagura nudged me forward and I hopped out the bed to stand in front of her._

 _"Arigato gozaimasu!" I said, bowing and then swaying from dizziness due to the sudden movement._

 _Violet instantly stepped forward and picked me up._

 _"Looks like you're not quite well yet," said Violet, sitting on the edge of the bed Kagura was on and holding me in her lap. Her deep blue eyes met mine and I felt safe._

 _"I'm okay," I said with a smile._

 _"Kawaii!" she exclaimed, hugging me tightly._

 _"I…can't…bweathe…"I gasped, struggling against her grip._

 _"Oops!" cried Violet, quickly letting me go, "Gomennasi! You're just too cute!"_

 _Kagura tapped my shoulder and whispered into my ear. "Don't worry Poppy. She did the same thing to me when I first smiled."_

 _"Don't tell Poppy lies! I don't want her to get the wrong impression of me!" exclaimed Violet, giving Kagura a tap on the forehead._

 _Kagura frowned slightly, "I'm only being honest! You're crazy!"_

 _Violet quickly moved me to the side and lunged at Kagura. Kagura squealed before she began laughing uncontrollably due to Violet's tickling._

 _"Violet! Hahaha! Stop it!... Please!" squealed Kagura in between bursts of laughter._

 _"Take back what you said then," replied Violet, smiling as she continued to attack Kagura with tickles._

 _"Never! Poppy needs to hear the truth!" she yelled bravely._

 _Violet stopped tickling her and smile mischievously._

 _"Well… if tickling you doesn't work…Maybe tickling Poppy here will!" she turned to me, fingers out and I shrieked, grabbing a pillow to protect me._

 _"That's not going to help!" replied Violet, quickly grabbing me to tickle me._

 _"No!" I yelled, laughing since I couldn't help it. "Kaguwa!"_

 _Kagura jumped on Violet's back. "I surrender! I surrender! You're not crazy! Let Poppy go!"_

 _Violet smiled and let go of me, "I always win."_

 _"No fair," said Kagura, sliding off of Violet's back, "You used Poppy against me."_

 _"All's fair in love and war," responded Violet, chuckling and leaning on the headboard of the bed, closing her eyes._

 _"Violet?" I asked, cross-legged to the left of her._

 _She opened on eye and looked at me, "Yes?"_

 _"What's Mermaid Heel?"_

 _She smiled and pulled me onto her lap while Kagura sat on her right side eagerly, "I love this story."_

 _"Mermaid Hell is a wizard's guild. We are made up of different mages, each with unique abilities, and go on different jobs to help others. These jobs range from catching thieves, looking for treasure, cleaning up houses, and so forth. There are a variety of guilds across the land, some good while others are evil. My guild, Mermaid Heel, is a good guild composed of only girls."_

 _Kagura pulled on Violet's sleeve, "Explain what mages are!"_

 _I looked at Violet curiously._

 _"Well," she looked up to the ceiling before looking back down to us, "Mages are those with magic. They have the ability to do something special like fire, ice, etc."_

 _"Are you a mage?"_

 _She nodded, "I am. I can make storms appear."_

 _Violet held her right hand out, palm faced upward, when a purple circle appeared and a small, dark, grey cloud appeared, the size of her palm._

 _"Wow!" I gasped, astonished._

 _"Wasn't that cool Poppy? Violet said she'd teach me magic!" said Kagura excitedly, "We can find Simon-nee and Erza!"_

 _"Really?" I asked, looking up to Violet._

 _She sighed, "Kagura, I already told you, you can't go looking for them yet. You're too young! Think about Poppy too! She could get hurt. She's much younger than you are and can't take care of herself yet."_

 _Tears came into my eyes, "But…Erza-nee…"_

 _"Oh, Poppy," said Violet, giving me a hug, "I know you want to find your sister but it's too dangerous. Your sister protected you, remember?" Both of you from what Kagura told me. If you go looking for her and are hurt, then her effort to save you would go to waste, wouldn't it?"_

 _I nodded slowly._

 _"I'm sure both your siblings are fine and would want you both to grow up happily and healthy."_

 _"Violet, but-"started Kagura._

 _Violet held up her hand, "Kagura, I've already spoken to you about this. If you wish, you can form a team and go look for them, but you have to have more information on their whereabouts and you have to be older-especially Poppy."_

 _Kagura folded her arms and frowned but I looked to Violet in confusion._

 _"But…Violet? What will Kagura and me do 'til then? Our homes are gone."_

 _"Silly Poppy," she said, flicking my nose with her index finger, "You'll stay with me of course! I'll take care of you both and so will Mermaid Heel."_

 _"Weally?" I asked, eyes wide in disbelief._

 _Violet smiled and nodded, pulling Kagura and I into a hug, "Of course! Look, I already moved an extra bed into my room for you both! I'll teach Kagura over here," she tickled her slightly, causing her to laugh, "magic while I'll teach you, little miss Poppy," I giggled as she tickled me, "how to read and write and magic when you are older. I'll keep you both safe and sound." She hugged us to her and we hugged her back._

 _"But promise we can look for Simon-nee and Erza when we are older?" asked Kagura, pulling back._

 _Violet sighed and nodded, "You have my word. In fact, I'll help you look for them."_

 _"Arigato Violet!" exclaimed Kagura, hugging her._

 _Violet smiled, "Now then, why don't we get some sleep? I know you are tired little Miss Poppy," she said, as I leaned into her trying to keep my eyes opened._

 _"Okay," I mumbled quite sleepily._

 _Violet began to move to climb out of the bed but I wrapped my arms around her._

 _"Don't leave me," I whispered quietly._

 _She lifted me up and laid on the bed, Kagura on her right side while I stayed on her chest._

 _"I won't" she whispered, giving me a quick kiss on the forehead._

"So you and Kagura found a safe place to live in?" asked Lucy.

I nodded. "Violet had heard Kagura's yells and went to help her. She saw me, took me from Kagura's arms, grabbed Kagura's hand, and took us to her apartment, next to Mermaid Heel's guild. Violet cleaned and bandaged my wounds and kept my fever down. While I was asleep, she cared for Kagura and heard our story. After that, Violet decided to take care of us, becoming an older sister for us. We never forgot about Simon or Erza but we were happy and needed to grow up."

"How was living in Mermaid Heel?" asked Wendy.

I smiled, remembering it. "Nice…"

 _"This is Mermaid Heel," said Violet, letting go of Kagura's hand to point out to the guild. Kagura quickly ran off to a table with two other girls about her age. One was a bit chubby with curly, black hair while the other was slim and had short, green hair._

 _The guild was huge! A staircase led up from the left corner to two more floors. There were tables scattered along the main hall with a fruit counter piece in the center of each. A counter at the back had food and drinks. The farthest right corner had a pink doorway. Everything was clean and shiny. Women of all ages were smiling and chattering with each other throughout the guild._

 _"Is this the young Poppy you've been caring for?" asked a light blue headed, elder woman as she walked toward us with a smile._

 _Ever since the attack on the village and losing Erza, I had grown a bit more fearful of adults and hid slightly behind Violet to be careful._

 _Violet, ever so sensitive, picked me up and faced the woman._

 _"Yes Master," said Violet nodding, "Poppy, this is Ceres – the master of Mermaid Heel."_

 _I looked shyly towards her and she held out a hand and smiled. I smiled back and shook her hand. "I'm Poppy."_

 _She giggled while whispering to Violet, "Isn't she adorable!" Violet nodded and the master spoke to me again, "How are you feeling Poppy? I know you had a high fever when you arrived."_

 _"Better! Violet-nee took care of me and made me better!" I replied happily._

 _The master frowned slightly, looking at Violet before smiling at me, "Well, I am happy to hear that you are better. I also want to welcome you to Mermaid Heel. This guild can be your home if you want it to. Everyone loves Kagura and loves you as well." She turned to the guild, "Ladies, may I have your attention please?" All stopped what they were doing and faced the master. Kagura grinned and quickly ran to Violet's side._

 _The master smiled and addressed the guild, "Three days ago, our Violet found Kagura and Poppy, both injured and alone. The children kidnapping occurred in the village yet they were fortunate to escape though they were separated from their older siblings. Violet cared for the two. We have already met Kagura," she patted Kagura's shoulder who smiled, "who is determined to find her brother and Poppy's sister, who cared deeply for Poppy, whose heart is pure and who we have welcome to our home with open arms."_

 _"We now have the honor to meet Poppy," She waved ahead towards me. I held Violet a bit tighter, leaning my head closer to her shoulder, "who has healed with Violet's help and shows her enthusiasm and energy with her smiles. She is young and has much growing up to do, as does Kagura. Let us care for the two as our own and welcome them both to our home!"_

 _The guild cheered, applauding. Kagura laughed and then returned to the table, where she received high-fives from the others. I smiled shyly at the guild, unsure of how to respond before snuggling to her neck Violet chuckled before stroking my hair and walking towards the center table as the guild began to celebrate._

 _Members came to introduce themselves while I stayed on Violet's lap, nervous to meet the new strangers. However, Violet reassured me and I soon open up, smiling to all. One member, a friend of Violet's with light green hair and chocolate colored eyes who was called Hana, gave me candy that popped in my mouth._

 _"Whhheeeee!" I yelled, laughing as I ran around the guild energetically due to a sugar rush. Members around me chuckled at me while Violet glared at Hana._

 _"Kaguwa! Kaguwa! Kaguwa!" I exclaimed, jumping up and down in front of her._

 _She looked at me nervously, "Yes Poppy?"_

 _"Try the candy Hana-san has! It's yummy! It explodes in your mouth!" I replied quickly, running back to Violet who had moved to the back where the bar was._

 _"Violet-nee!" I shouted, before jumping towards her and into her arms. She caught me and held me in her lap as I ran out of energy and grew tired._

 _"Looks like the candy has worn off. Never again Poppy," she said, smiling down at me and letting me rest on her._

 _"Nooo," I sighed, closing my eyes as I leaned into her chest to rest._

 _Violet wrapped her arms around me and I slowly began to nod off._

 _"Kawaii!" said Hana near me._

 _I felt Violet brush my hair out of my face, "That's right. I'm amazed at how happy she is despite what happened. She is nervous around strangers but still opens up to others."_

 _"And what do you plan to do with her?" asked Ceres, walking closer._

 _"What do you mean?" asked Violet as she stopped brushing my hair._

 _"Violet, Poppy needs a home and a family. She is practically an infant and needs a nurturing, stable environment. As I said before, Mermaid Heel can be her home but she needs elders in her life to guard her. Maybe our older members can adopt her…"_

 _Violet clutched me closer to her, but I kept my eyes closed as I fought the urge to sleep to listen a bit longer to the conversation._

 _"I'll take care of her and Kagura! I have looked over the two for the last three days and will continue to watch over them."_

 _Ceres sighed, "It is not that you are not a capable guardian but you yourself are young. You are only nineteen! You are an active mage – a strong one at that. Caring for Kagura is one thing, for she can care for herself, but Poppy needs more care. You cannot go on extended missions and leave Poppy alone and you cannot take her with you for she could get in harm's way."_

 _Violet moved me in her arms carefully, brushing my hair next to my right ear, "Master, do you see this wound? I cleaned it and bandaged it. I kept Poppy's fever down. I helped her get hydrated once more. Poppy is terrified of adults but she trusts me! Why would I give her away for her to be more frightened? She already lost her sister, she won't lose me!" responded Violet, holding me tighter._

 _Hana cleared her throat and spoke, "Master, Violet won't be alone. I'll help her raise Poppy and teach Kagura magic. And, as you said earlier, I'm sure other members of the guild can help too. Poppy will be taken care of."_

 _Ceres sighed, "Very well. You can raise and care for both Kagura and Poppy. However, note that raising a child is difficult and, if it becomes overwhelming, I will care for Poppy."_

 _Violet nodded, "Thank you Master!"_

 _I heard Ceres walk away._

 _"So," said Hana, "Are you a mom now or an older sister?"_

 _"An older sister to Kagura seeing as she is quite independent but for Poppy…Whatever she needs me to be."_

 _At that, I stopped fighting and fell asleep._

 _"Poppy? Poppy! Where are you? I'm gonna getcha!" called Hana_

 _I shrieked and climbed a tree, reaching the top branch and sitting on it._

 _Unfortunately, the branch was too thin and snapped under me._

 _"Ahhh!" I yelled as I fell._

 _"Poppy!"_

 _Right before I hit the ground, a current of wind slowed me down and lifted me._

 _"Violet-nee!" I exclaimed, as the wind took me towards and into her arms._

 _"Nice catch!" said Hana, jogging over to us._

 _Violet glared at her and it began to rain over Hana._

 _"You're supposed to watch over her!"_

 _Hana groaned and a brown magic circle appeared, causing a wood shield to form and protect her from the rain._

 _Kagura, who was standing behind Violet, spoke up. "Hana-sama! I used magic for the first time today! I have re-equip magic! Violet-san said she will teach me how to use a sword!"_

 _The storm above Hana disappeared and Hana took down her shield, "That's great Kagura-chan! I can help you learn; I know a thing or two about sword wielding."_

 _Kagura grinned, "Yes! Please, please, please!"_

 _Hana laughed, "No problem!"_

 _"Can you teach me now?"_

 _Violet answered for Hana, "Kagura, you've had a long day practicing. Why don't we go to the lake and, if you still want to learn, Hana can train you then?"_

 _"Okay! Let's go!"_

 _Violet smiled and set me down, taking my hand as we walked past the tree, down the hill. The sun was high above us, signifying it was mid-afternoon._

 _We walked for half-an-hour before the ground under us became muddy and the emerald trees sparkled with moisture. The lake hid behind the trees though it was grand and large. The clear, blue water moved softly with the breeze and the sun's rays caused the water to reflect the sky._

 _Kagura ran ahead, stripping her clothes other than her undergarments, and running into the water laughing, "Come on Poppy! The water is great!"_

 _I let go of Violet's hand and ran to Kagura, splashing into the water, clothes and all._

 _Kagura dipped her head in and swam out. I looked behind and saw Violet laying on the sand, in a bikini, soaking in the sun. Hana stretched out in the sun and began to do yoga, having changed to a sundress._

 _"Poppy!" I turned to Kagura, "Look a rope swing!"_

 _She pointed to the rope tied to a large oak tree on her right. Kagura swam to the edge and climbed, stretching to reach the rope swing. Once she had a hold of it, she ran, jump, and let go of the rope. I saw Kagura fly into the water and then her head bobbed out._

 _"Nice one Kagura-chan but check this out," yelled Hana, walking towards the rope swing._

 _Hana took hold of the rope, tugged at it slightly, grinned, and swung out. As the rope reached its peak, Hana let go, formed a plank of wood under her feet, and skidded on the top of the water for a bit before she let herself slip under the water, She bobbed back up, whipping her hair to her back and then swimming over to Kagura._

 _"Show off!" called Violet._

 _Hana stuck her tongue at her and then was lifted up by a large wave, a purple magic circle hidden under the water._

 _The wave grew larger and larger, moving to the opposite side of the lake, before it crashed down._

 _Hana was nowhere in sight until a spherical wood ball emerged from the water. This ball rolled back to shore and disappeared, leaving an angry, exhausted looking Hana._

 _"Violet…" fumed Hana, stomping towards her as Violet laid back down._

 _Kagura swam quickly back to the shore._

 _"I want to learn magic! I want to do that!" she exclaimed._

 _Hana turned to her, "Sorry kiddo but that's not your magic." Kagura's face fell. "But I can teach you how to wield a sword!"_

 _"Please!" Kagura begged._

 _Hana nodded, bringing her hands out and creating two wooden swords. "Let's start." She tossed a sword to Kagura who yelped and did not catch it._

 _"Kagura-chan, these swords are dull and can't hurt you – maybe bruise – but nothing more," chuckled Hana._

 _"Okay!" Kagura picked up the sword and I turned back to the lake, floating on my back._

 _"Boo!" shouted Violet, making me sink below before she raised me up._

 _"Meanie!" I yelled, coughing slightly since I swallowed water._

 _Violet laughed, "You're okay." She pointed to the rope swing, "Do you want to try it?"_

 _I nodded, "But I'm scawed…"_

 _She began to swim towards it and I follow, climbing out to stand next to the tree._

 _"Run and Jump. Once the rope reaches its end, I'll catch you."_

 _"Okay…" she handed me the rope before swimming out, smiling at me._

 _"You can do Poppy!" I thought, running forward._

 _"Ahh!" I yelled as I flew in the air._

 _"Let go Poppy!" called Violet._

 _However I was incredibly terrified of falling and clutched the rope tighter, unable to let go. I began to swing backwards, stopping and releasing the rope on accident as I smashed against the tree._

 _I yelped out in pain and fell to the ground, rolling down to the water._

 _"Poppy!" cried Violet, picking me up before I entered the water, "Poppy! Are you okay?"_

 _Tears flowed from my eyes and I wrapped my arms around Violet's neck as she walked towards the shore._

 _Violet held me carefully, trying not to shake me, "Poppy, does anything hurt? Did you hit anything?"_

 _"My head and back hit the twee," I stuttered, keeping my eyes closed._

 _"There you go Kagura! Keep your legs at shoulder-length apart! Hey Violet! Whoa, is Poppy okay?" I heard Hana call out as Violet reached the shore._

 _"Is Poppy okay? What happened?" asked Kagura quickly._

 _"Hana, can you lift Poppy's shirt and expose her back? She hit it against the tree and I don't want her to move around in case she is hurt," replied Violet, one hand holding me up from my legs while the other began to brush the hair from my face._

 _"Are you okay Poppy?" asked Kagura, standing behind Violet and looking up towards me._

 _I felt my shirt be lifted and the cool air stung my back, causing me to wince._

 _"She's scraped her back but it's shallow and red- there's no blood. We're going to want to put something on it though- so it doesn't sting," said Hana, carefully putting my shirt down._

 _"How are you Poppy?" asked Violet, looking at me as she held me out slightly._

 _I wiped the tears from my face and nodded carefully._

 _"Okay…My back stings…"_

 _"Head alright? No dizziness?"_

 _I shook my head slowly._

 _Violet stared at me before turning to Hana and Kagura. "It's getting late. Let's go back home." The two nodded and began to walk out. I laid my head on Violet's shoulder._

 _"You're alright Poppy. It's just a scratch," said Violet, resting her hand on my head and brushing my hair._

 _I closed my eyes, calmed by the walking and her soothing strokes. "Mhmm…"_

"How often did you get hurt as a kid?" asked Lucy.

"A fair amount. I can be incredibly clumsy sometimes," I responded smiling and then frowning, "I also found myself in bad situations…"

Erza patted my shoulder. "How long were you with the guild?"

"Three years. I was never an official member though because you had to be eleven to join."

"Why did you leave?" asked Wendy, curiously.

I shook my head, "I didn't. Not purposely. It was all an accident…It was my seventh birthday when my life changed again…"

 _"Rawr!" I called out, jumping onto Violet's bed and waking her up._

 _"Oh no you didn't!" she responded, quickly grabbing me and attacking me with tickles._

 _"No! Violet-nee! Stop!" I laughed, trying to move away from her._

 _She grinned and stopped, giving me a peck on the forehead before standing up from the bed._

 _"Only since it's your birthday," she replied, heading towards the bathroom to get dressed, "My little Poppy is growing up! You're seven years old now!"_

 _"But you still won't teach me magic…" I whined, starting to make the bed as I had already gotten dressed._

 _Violet came back, wearing jeans with a loose blue top that brought out her eyes, "You're still too young Poppy. You know you can't join the guild yet."_

 _I flopped on the bed, "But Kagura is! And she's been on missions now!"_

 _"She's twelve years old and Hana goes with her."_

 _I gave her my puppy eyes, making my eyes grow wide and teary._

 _"Nope. That's not working Poppy. That may be able to work for everything else but not this," she responded, avoiding my eyes, "How about we go to town for the morning? I'll buy you an ice cream!"_

 _"For breakfast? Yay!" I replied, running up and hopping onto her back._

 _"Oof, you're definitely getting bigger Poppy," she replied, smiling as she held onto me and walked out of the house._

 _"I'm seven now!" I answered happily, "I'm a big kid now!"_

 _She chuckled, "You'll always be little to me silly."_

 _We walked around the town for a while, looking for Kagura and Hana who were supposed to meet us at the center._

 _"Where are they?" I asked Violet, glancing around._

 _"Happy Birthday Poppy!"_

 _I looked in front of Violet and saw Kagura and Hana standing together, both holding small gifts._

 _I slid off of Violet's back and ran to them, jumping up and down and then giving them both a hug._

 _"Arigato!" I shouted, squeezing Kagura and Hana._

 _"No problem Poppy-chan," replied Hana, smiling down as I wrapped my arms around her waist._

 _"It's your birthday after all," said Kagura._

 _Kagura had grown in the last three years. Her black-purple hair was longer and she had straight bangs hanging down from her forehead, allowing her cat green eyes to pierce below. She wore a belt around her waist which had a small sword resting on her left hip that she had received for her 11_ _th_ _birthday from Violet as a gift for joining the guild. She wore a white bow on her head and white gloves, wearing her usual outfit of a white blazer and matching boots. She was taller, up to Violet's chest now._

 _"Arigato!" I said again, looking up to the three of them, smiling._

 _"Kawaii!" exclaimed Hana, lifting me up to hug me. Although three years had passed, I was still small, barely to Violet or Hana's waist. My red hair was at medium length to my shoulders and I, wanting to be like Violet, wore jeans and a green t-shirt._

 _"Can't…breathe…" I gasped, struggling in Hana's grip._

 _"Gomen!" she said, quickly releasing me._

 _"Why don't you open your gifts now?" asked Violet, sitting on a bench nearby with Kagura._

 _"Okay!" I nodded, unwrapping Hana's gift first._

 _"Whoa! This is so cool!" I exclaimed, seeing a small, wooden dagger in a small case tied to a green belt._

 _"You may not be able to learn magic yet but I see no harm in you learning some small skills to keep you safe," she replied, ruffling my hair._

 _"Arigato Hana-sama!" I said, hugging her tightly._

 _"You aren't allowed to use it yet though Poppy. Only use it once Hana shows you how to," replied Violet, tying the belt around my waist and ensuring that the dagger stayed in its place._

 _"My turn!" said Kagura, handing me her gift._

 _I opened it carefully, seeing a small jewelry box. "Wow! Kagura! This is so pretty!"_

 _I held up an emerald necklace that gleamed in the light, sending rays of green all around._

 _"It's a little something from my first mission. It's a good luck charm. It's also the sibling of the one I have. If that once cracks, then mine does too. This way I will always know that you are okay." She said, holding out her small, light green necklace from under her shirt._

 _"Arigato Kagura!" I cried, hugging her tightly._

 _"You're welcome, Poppy," she replied, returning my hug._

 _"I have an idea! Why don't we go to the lake and then the guild? We can have a picnic," said Hana as Kagura and I let go of each other._

 _"Yes!" I said eagerly, "Let's go!"_

 _"Hold it Little Miss Poppy," Violet grabbed my hand as I was already walking away, "The Lake is in the other direction and we need to get food for the picnic."_

 _Kagura smiled, "No we don't. Hana-sama and I packed all the food and laid out a blanket already. Everything is there except us."_

 _"Then let's goooo," I replied, looking up to Violet and pulling her hand slightly._

 _"Alright, alright. Let's go on over," she said as we all walked over to the lake._

 _After having a wonderful brunch that Kagura and Hana made and swimming in the lake, though not the rope swing since I was still too scared for that, we returned to the guild were I was surprised by a party._

 _"Happy Birthday Poppy!" shouted the guild members, clapping and cheering as I walked in._

 _"Arigato!" I exclaimed in surprise._

 _The members all came and wished me a happy birthday while Violet sat in the back putting candles on a very large, vanilla cake. The members instantly began singing and I blew out all the candles wishing, as I always do, that I will find Erza-nee soon. As the party dwindled to an end, I sat on Violet's lap, eating my fourth piece of vanilla cake._

 _"You're going to get a sugar rush if you keep eating more cake," said Violet, pulling my hair back into a ponytail._

 _"It's okay. I like vanilla cake just like I like vanilla ice cream," I put my fork down, "Ne, Violet-nee, you never gave me the ice cream."_

 _She let go of my hair, "Do you still want some?"_

 _"Hai!"_

 _"Well then, let's go now and get some," she said, putting me down to the ground, "Kagura, do you wanna go out for ice cream?"_

 _Kagura ran to us from her friends, "Sure!"_

 _We walked out of the guild and into town, Violet holding my hand while Kagura walked ahead to the stand._

 _"Violet, I was wondering if you could help me out with something?" asked a tall, blonde man._

 _Violet stopped and turned to him, "Sure Shino, what is it that you need?"_

 _The two began conversing while I stood there watching them, a bit nervous about the man and hiding behind Violet._

 _Violet noticed and looked to me, "Poppy, why don't you go to Kagura at the ice cream stand and order whatever you want?"_

 _I nodded and let go of her hand, happy to go and get ice cream._

 _Kagura had ordered chocolate ice cream with blueberries while I ordered Vanilla with rainbow sprinkles. We sat together on a bench waiting for Violet._

 _"She's taking a while, I'm going to go see if everything is okay," said Kagura, putting her ice cream down. "You stay here Poppy, I'll be right back."_

 _I nodded, content with my ice cream._

 _Kagura walked away while I sat alone, watching the town life slowly diminish as it grew dark._

 _"You shouldn't be alone out here," said a low, deep voice._

 _I turned, frightened._

 _A shadow of a man appeared in a nearby alleyway._

 _"Little kids like you could get hurt," he said, walking towards me, "We need kids like you to work."_

 _I sat, paralyzed. The thought of working scared me since Violet-nee had told me that Erza's kidnapping was for a dark guild for working on a new project._

 _As he grew closer, I came to my senses slightly. Violet-nee had told me to never talk to strangers and run to the guild if anything happened._

 _"Violet-nee! Help!" I yelled, dropping my ice cream and running towards the guild, "Violet-nee! Hana! Kaguwa!"_

 _Unfortunately, the man was faster than me and grabbed me by my necklace, causing me to choke and fall to the ground._

 _"Not so fast young one. You're coming with me."_

 _With that, everything grew dark._


	10. 10 Gaia, Lucy, Capitivity

**Sorry for the slow update; My computer hasn't been working very well. Let me know what you think!**

"Who was the man?" asked Lucy.

"I wouldn't know until later, but not anyone good," I said, shaky my hands slightly.

"Did Violet find you?" asked Levy.

I shook my head, "I haven't seen them since…"

"So what happened next?"

"Well, I don't remember much from waking up but I do remember being lost in a new town…"

 _"Violet-nee? Kagura? Hana?" I called, walking around in a small, village._

 _"Anyone?!" I yelled as I ran up through the village, tears rushed down my eyes. "I don't want to be alone. I'm scared."_

 _"Kid, I thought you were asleep," said a man nearby me. I recognized that voice as the stranger who took me away from Violet-nee._

 _I shrieked and ran, into the forest, ignoring the branches that cut my skin. My left foot caught on a root and I fell, crashing to the ground._

 _"Why me?" I moaned, tears coming to my eyes in pain and fear._

 _I sat there, crying for a couple minutes before I noticed that the necklace was still around my neck and I still had the dagger. However, my necklace had a slight crack on the underside of it._

 _"If mine's cracked…then so has Kagura…Then maybe she will find me!" I said, quickly wiping the tears out of my eyes and standing up, "I'll have to keep walking and maybe I will find them."_

 _"Violet-nee! Kagura! Hana!" I continued to yell, looking around for them until I heard a rustling beside me._

 _I stood still, scared, "Kagura?"_

 _With no answer, I drew out my dagger and walked forward to the source of the sound._

 _"Who is making all this ruckus?" asked a loud, booming voice._

 _I made my way through the trees and saw a large, lush green dragon sitting in the middle of a meadow. It turned one of its eyes, as large as I was, towards me._

 _"Ahhh! Don't eat me please!" I shrieked, falling to the ground and beginning to cry. "Please don't huwt me! Violet-nee! Help! I'm scawed!"_

 _"Hush child, it's alright. I won't hurt you," replied the dragon, lying to face me._

 _I continued crying, scared, "I want my Erza-nee. I want Violet-nee and Kagura and Hana and the west of Mermaid Heel. I want to go home."_

 _The dragon extended its paw to me and, although I yelled louder, it pulled me towards its body. Surprisingly, it did not eat or hurt me but cradle me against its chest._

 _"Shhh, it's okay child. I won't hurt you," whispered the dragon, its soothing voice vibrating my body._

 _Slowly, my shrieks turned to sniffles._

 _"Who awe you?" I asked, my voice cracking from crying._

 _"My name is Gaia. I am the Earth Dragon. Who are you, child?"_

 _"I'm Poppy," I responded._

 _"What are you doing here all alone?"_

 _"I…I don't know…I was waiting for Violet-nee and Kaguwa to come eat ice cweam with me…And then a man came…And then I woke up in the fowest and now I'm with you…I want to go home!" I slowly began to cry again, quietly this time._

 _"Shhh, it's okay Poppy. You will be okay," soothed Gaia towards me, holding me closer to her._

 _"Do you know where Violet-nee or Kagura or Hana or Mermaid Heel is?" I asked, slowly wiping my face._

 _"I'm afraid not. We are far away from any towns or villages. It surprises me that you came this far; this land has yet to inhibited by humans."_

 _I looked up to her chocolate eyes, "What do I do now? I don't know where my home is."_

 _She blinked, picked me up in her hand, brought me near her face and said, "You will stay with me. I will raise you as my own and teach you magic."_

 _I looked at her in surprise and eyes wide, "Really? Violet-nee says I'm not old enough yet…"_

 _She chuckled, "Your sister sounds caring, but any age is fine to learn magic as long as you have a proper teacher."_

 _"Violet-nee isn't my real sister. Erza-nee is my big sister but she was kidnapped three years ago after protecting me. Kagura and I found Violet and the rest of Mermaid Heel when we left the village. Violet-nee took care of us ever since. She said she would teach me magic when I was older and then Kagura and I would go look for Erza and Simon- Kagura's big brother. I want to learn magic so I can find Erza-nee again," I explained._

 _"You will my dear child, I will help you and raise you as my own."_

 _I smiled and hugged her snout._

 _"Arigato!"_

"How long did you live with her? Did she disappear as well? Do you know where Igneel is?" asked Natsu rapidly.

Wendy and Gajeel also looked at me in curiosity as well.

I shook my head, "No, I don't know where he is or the others or Gaia. I lived with her for two years before she disappeared."

 _"Kaa-san! Gaia-san!" I yelled, jumping up and down on Gaia's snout in an effort to wake her up, "Gaia! Wake up! I can do it!"_

 _She snorted slightly, causing me to slide off her and fall to the ground. I stood up quickly, unfazed from the fall and climbed back on. "Gaia! I learned it! I practiced like you told me!"_

 _She opened her right eye sleepily and looked at me, "Isn't it time for you to go to sleep?"_

 _"It's not that dark yet. The sun barely went down!" I pouted at her._

 _She sighed and stood up, leaving me to quickly grab her snout so that I did not fall._

 _"Show me then what you have practiced."_

 _I nodded and smiled, jumping down to the ground and landing smoothly._

 _"Is that all you wanted to show me? Your jump?"_

 _I turned to her and frowned, "No! I mean, yes because I can jump now without falling but no. That's not it."_

 _She grinned, "Very well then, what is it that you wanted to show me so late in the evening?"_

 _"This," I took a deep breathe, inhaling all the dirt and earth around me, "Earth Dragon's Roar!"_

 _I shot the blast of earth straight out in front of me, knocking out rows and rows of trees in an instant, stopping as my breath ran out. I then turned to Gaia smiling in contentment._

 _"See? I can do it now!"_

 _"I see you have been practicing…Good job Poppy though you still need to practice some."_

 _She turned to fallen trees before her, "Why don't we clean this up now?"_

 _I nodded, "Hai!" I held my hands out in front of me and focused my power on the trees. "Earth Dragon's Grow!"_

 _The trees before me slowly moved back in place, roots returning to the ground as the trees stood up once more._

 _"Done!" I said, feeling accomplished yet slightly exhausted from using too much power._

 _"Very well. I am proud of you Poppy," she said, smiling, "However, I thought I had told you to go the bed earlier. You've been practicing all day and need to rest. It's late."_

 _I nodded, "Okay…I just wanted to get it down though."_

 _"I understand but now, let us rest," she laid back down on the ground and I went to her side while she curled her tail around me._

 _"Oyasumi-nasai," I said drowsily, closing my eyes to sleep, feeling warm in her embrace._

 _"Oyasumi dear one."_

 _I woke up as the sun's light pierced my dreams._

 _"Morning Gaia," I mumbled, cuddling to her body when I hit a hard rock._

 _"Gaia?" I said, opening my eyes._

 _"Kaa-san? Gaia?!" I called out, seeing no one in the meadow or nearby._

 _Tears began to form in my eyes as I realized I was alone, "Gaia! Gaia! Gaia! Please!" I yelled, running through the trees_

 _"Gaia! Don't leave me too!" I cried, falling to the ground as I sobbed, "Why does everyone leave me?"_

"Oh, Poppy…I'm sorry," said Erza, hugging me towards her.

"Gaia wasn't the only dragon that disappeared. Ours did too," replied Natsu while Gajeel and Wendy nodded sorrowfully.

"I haven't seen Gaia since," I replied, "I couldn't find her…"

 _After crying, I stood up and wiped the tears out of my eyes. "No, I'm going to find her. And Violet-nee and Kagura. And Erza-nee. That's what Gaia would want me to do." I walked away, determined to find them._

 _I walked for days, following a trail out of the forest and finding myself in a town. I stared around at awe, I hadn't been in a town for three years and the one Mermaid Heel was small in comparison to this metropolis._

 _"Hey kid, why are you all dirty? Where are your parents?" said a stranger nearby._

 _I turned back quickly to see a man near a watermelon stand. Instantly, I ran away._

 _"Hey kid! Wait up!" he called but I ran faster and further, a year of training with Gaia advantaging me._

 _I didn't stop until I felt sure he was nowhere nearby and I collapsed below a tree on top of a hill._

 _"That probably wasn't smart," I panted feeling dizzy and light-headed, "I haven't eaten much since I left…"_

 _My ears perked as I heard a girl's laughter come closer to me._

 _"Hi! Are you okay?" asked a blonde girl as my vision slowly turned grey._

 _"Specto-San!"_

 _"Ugh," I mumbled, opening my eyes to see a large pink room, "Where am I?"_

 _"You're in my room!" replied a high-pitched voice._

 _I turned to see a blonde hair girl sitting on my left. She had eyes similar to Gaia's and was smiling._

 _I sat up and moved away from her nervously, "Who are you? Why am I here?"_

 _"I'm Lucy! I found you under a tree before you passed out. Specto-San came and took care of you since you had a high fever. You've been asleep for two days!"_

 _"Oh…" I replied, "I'm Poppy. How old are you?"_

 _"I'm almost fourteen and you?"_

 _"Umm, I'm almost nine."_

 _"Why were you running? What had happened to you?" questioned Lucy, looking at me curiously._

 _I looked down at my hands, "I got lost. I was trying to find my kaa-san since she wasn't there when I woke up or my nee-sans but I haven't seen them in years." I looked to her, "Have you seen them? My kaa-san's name is Gaia; she's a huge, green dragon or my nee-san; she has red hair like mine, or Violet or Kagura or Hana – they're both in a guild called Mermaid Heel?"_

 _Lucy shook her head slightly, "Gomen but I do not know any of them and didn't even know that dragons existed until you said it. I also heard them in stories but have never met one."_

 _'Well, they do and my kaa-san is one of them. She taught me magic and took care of me," I answered proudly._

 _Lucy's eyes lit up, "You know magic?"_

 _I nodded, "Yup!"_

 _"I know magic too! I'm a Celestial Wizard- like my Mama," she jumped off the bed, "the spirits are my friends. Come on, I'll introduce you to them."_

 _I hopped down with her but then swayed and leaned on the bed, feeling exhausted._

 _Lucy helped me up, "Gomen! You need more rest!"_

 _"I guess I do…"_

"I stayed with Lucy for a week as I recovered and we soon became close friends. She introduced me to some of her spirits but I never showed her my magic because I never had the energy to. However, as much fun as it was to stay with her, I was determined to find my family, so I left."

"It was a fun week with you and I knew you were going to leave but I didn't expect you to leave without saying good-bye," responded Lucy.

I frowned at that, "I wrote you a note! I left it in your room for you."

Lucy looked at me in confusion, "I never saw it…" She shrugged, "its okay. I can spend time with you now since you are a member of Fairy Tail! But what happened to you after you left?"

I looked down to my hands, particularly the bandage around my left wrist. "Not anywhere good," I whispered, trying to stop the tears from falling as I remembered it where I had spent my last year.

Erza hugged me to her, "It's okay Poppy. You are here with me. Nothing will hurt you again."

"I'll beat them to a pulp! Just tell me who it is! They'll get it for hurting my nakama!" yelled Natsu, a flame appearing in his hand.

I chuckled, pulling away from Erza and wiping my eyes, smiling sadly, "I hope you can Natsu-san."

I turned to the guild, continuing on, "Once I left Lucy-san's estate, I was captured by a dark mage. His name is Kumori..."

 _"'Welcome to –"_

 _I shook my head and moved forward, not bothering to stop seeing as this was not the right city for Mermaid Heel and far from where Erza-nee would be. Gaia-san prefers the woods and would never appear in the middle of a city so I continued on._

 _"Are you lost young one?"_

 _I looked up from my feet and turned to the alleyway where the shadow of a man stood._

 _"No, not again," I thought, frightened as I remembered the last time a man approached me._

 _I shook my ahead quickly and walked away faster, "No sir. I'll just be on my way now."_

 _I walked briskly, avoiding him and turning from street corner to street corner, sniffing the air ever so often to see if I could smell him if he was nearby._

 _"Then why do you seem to be taking only back roads?" asked the man._

 _I looked up to see him casually sitting on a roof. I ignored him and began to run._

 _"Why couldn't I smell him or hear him when he went to the roof?" I thought, scared._

 _"What?" I thought hazily, pain shooting through my body as I laid on the ground after being hit down._

 _"You can't run away little girl. It's been a year and I have found you again."_

 _"Gaia!" I yelled in my head before I lost consciousness._

 _"Where am I?" I thought drowsily as I opened my eyes and found myself in a small, dimly lit jail cell. My hands bound together while my right ankle was chained to the wall._

 _"Owww," I moaned as pushed against the chain to try to move._

 _"Well, if that doesn't work…Earth Dragon's: Boulder!"_

 _I winced as I flew back and slammed against the wall, "Gah!"_

 _"Don't bother. These cells trap magic and use it against you. The more power you use, the more pain you will be in," said a small voice in the cell to the left of mine._

 _"Who are you? Why am I here?" I asked, leaning on the wall._

 _A boy, maybe as old as Lucy, with piercings in his right ear and shaggy brown hair stood outside my cell bars in his own cell. He smiled shyly then waved a hand up, "I'm Otto. I'm 15 years old but I've been here since I was 12. You're here because you have some sort of ability that they want to use or they are able to toy with you for experiments. You also have no attachments so they can do as they please."_

 _"Who's this we? I have a family! I'm looking for them! How do I get out of here? I don't want to be here…" I began to cry quietly._

 _"Aw, don't cry. It's tough here but you will get used to it. I can be your friend. Why don't you tell me about yourself?" he asked, sitting on the ground with his legs cross, waving at me to sit as well._

 _I wiped the tears, "Sniff, I'm Poppy. I'm 9 years old. I have a family. My older sister was kidnapped when I was four, but Violet-nee and Kagura took care of me and so did the rest of the guild. When I was 7, I was kidnapped but Gaia-san found me and taught me magic. She disappeared soon and I went to look for her so that I can find my older sister- Erza and bring her home. What about you?"_

 _He shrugged his shoulders, "My village was attacked by the child hunters right before my 12th birthday. My parents saved me and hid me away. I got away but later ran into these guys who took me here and I've been here ever since. There's some more of us who are here. Most are older though and work for the Master. You're the youngest though."_

 _"What do they want us for?" I questioned before turning towards the hall as I heard footsteps._

 _"Looks like the girl finally woke up," said a man as he walked outside my cell and began to open the door._

 _I looked at Otto fearfully who smiled sadly at me before addressing the man, "Hey, bastard, what do you want with her?"_

 _The man grunted angrily, "It's not my or your business kid. The Master has his reasons," he turned to me and released my chains while grabbing my shoulder harshly and bringing me up to my feet, "Come on, it's time for you to meet the Master."_

 _He held on to me tightly and I walked briskly to keep with his pace, noticing that the cells next to Otto and I were empty but the ones furthest away from us all had 2 teens in each, all looking haunted and wearing rags for clothes._

 _We walked up a spiral staircase and the number of cells decreased while the building became more and more clean. Laughter could be hear behind certain doors. At the very top of the staircase was a deep red door that the man quickly opened and shoved me through. This room was large with burgundy carpet and portraits surrounding the room. The most massive portrait was behind a black, wooden desk with a leather chair turned the opposite direction. Black sofas were around the desk to sit in as well as a coffee table in between them. A woman with midnight blue hair past her waist and similar eyes sat in one of the sofas nearest the desk and smiled as we entered._

 _"Here's the girl Master," the man said as he released his grip on me, bowed, and left the room._

 _I stood there, frightened and unsure of what to do._

 _The woman stood up and beckoned me to her, "Come here darling, I'm sorry about the rough handling but you put up quite the fight. No worries, we won't hurt you here."_

 _I nodded slightly, not trusting this woman but scared of what would happen if I didn't listen. I sat next to her on the sofa and she began to run her fingers through my hair, causing me to flinch away and shut my eyes._

 _"You have such lovely red hair…Brother, it seems as though your men have frightened her. The poor thing is trembling," she said, reaching out once more to stoke my hair._

 _"Please…Don't hurt me… Let me go… I just want to be with my family again…" I whispered, opening my eyes and begging to the lady and the chair._

 _At that, the chair slowly turned to face me. I saw a man with the same color hair as his sister, a deep midnight blue that just passed his ears, face me, wearing all black and a red, chain necklace around his neck. I gasped in shock as my eyes met with his blood red eyes._

 _"I see Sister. I will have to talk to my men about how we treat our guests," he said in a deep voice, "Young one, how are you?"_

 _"I want to go home…Please…" I said, meeting his red eyes._

 _His eyes remained cold, "I'm sorry but that will not be happening. You will remain with us. We can help you and we could use your help."_

 _My eyes began to water, "But… Nee-san needs me…"_

 _The lady turned to me and gave me a one-arm hug, "Oh darling, they don't need you and you don't need them. Only us. We are going to help you. Think of my Brother as your tou-san and I as your kaa-san; we'll watch over you."_

 _I shook my head and pulled away from her grip, "But I have a kaa-san! And a family! I just need to get to them!"_

 _"Enough!" yelled the man, standing up from his chair, "Follow me," he commanded, walking towards the door._

 _The lady stood up quickly grabbing my hand and holding on as she led us to follow the man, "Brother, we talked about this. She's young. She's only scared. Let's give her time. She'll warm up to us."_

 _"Sister, I will only show her to listen to us." He continued on and led us down the staircase and into a long, dim hallway._

 _The lady sighed and looked down at me, smiling sadly, "I am sorry Darling. My brother has made up his mind."_

 _I looked around warily until my ears caught loud screams. I struggled in her grip slightly, trying to slip my hand out of hers, "Please! Please don't hurt me!"_

 _"Sister…" he warned causing the lady to pick me up. As stunning as she was, it was obvious that she was strong as she held me with ease as though I was a toddler and not an older kid._

 _The scientist ignored her and pushed down a lever across from the bound woman. Almost immediately, the woman began to scream as electricity pulsed from her left wrist and into the lacrima._

 _"STTOOPPPP!" she yelled and I struggled harder against the lady's grip. She, however, held me tight and stood still as she watched, intrigued by the scene before her._

 _After a few minutes, the scientist switched the machine off and the bound woman sunk in her chains, panting once more. She opened one eye and gazed at me, in fear and pity, before sinking into the wall and falling unconscious._

 _Tears began to fall from my eyes and I shook slightly in fear. The woman, catching it, began to stroke my hair with her long fingernails and rocked me in her arms as though I was an infant, "Shhh Darling. Do not worry. That thing will be fine. She's only helping us achieve greatness and change this world for the better."_

 _The man in front of me turned towards me, smiling uncannily, "You see Poppy? You are not here to be harmed, only to help others. That lacrima she is helping fill with magic power will power an incredible invention that will change the world as you know it. Fear not, my sister here will teach you all you need to know."_

 _He began to walk back towards the room and his sister followed, still holding me._

 _"Sister, have one of the men return her to her cell. I will be in the office," he then disappeared in a black smoke and a flash of red._

 _"Sorry Darling, but you have had enough for one day. Rest well. We shall see each other tomorrow," the lady said as she pecked the top of my head and set me on the ground only to be grasped by my left hand by a guard._

 _"Here you are. The Master has given you a pillow and blanket. Don't bother trying to run; we have guards surrounding the area," said the guard gruffly as he shoved me into the cell._

 _The "pillow" and "blanket" I was given was an old jacket that was torn in various places and an old, worn hat._

 _"Why?" I whispered, crying softly into my hands at the corner of my cell._

 _"Aww, don't cry," said Otto, appearing next to my cell, "Besides, though that may seem old, it will be useful when it begins to get colder."_

 _"I don't wanna be here…" I replied, keeping my eyes shut._

 _"Sorry sis, but ya are. Just try to make the best of it. Besides, it does seem as though you're on the Master's good side; you weren't tested and you did get a blanket."_

 _"Who are they? Why are they doing this?" I asked, looking up to Otto._

 _He sighed, "They want power. I'm not sure for what exactly but they said it would change the world. They take mages with significant potential and harness their power when it's relatively still weak – that's why most of the test subjects are young. They will train you for a while in your magic and then test you to see if they can use your power."_

 _"As for who they are…It's no one good. They all belong to a Guild, hence the symbols, but they all stay hidden away. From what I know, the Guild is called Night Eye. The Master is the man in charge while his sister is the one who came up with the plan. Both are extremely powerful."_

"What do you mean by tested?" asked Levy hesitantly.

I looked at her, my face grim, before I looked back to my wrist.

Wendy gasped lightly, "No… You don't mean that…"

I nodded slightly, "H-Hai…"

 _"Oi! Sis, ya better wake up soon. I brought you some food but you hafta hurry. You got to train now and you don't want to be late- Midnight is waiting," said Otto, nudging me softly on my shoulder._

 _I opened my eyes slightly and saw him hovering over me. Over the last month, the Master's Sister Midnight began to train me each morning until I had no power to move claiming that "it was for my own good." With these trainings, came improvements in my living conditions as I was her "little ruby". I moved into a room in a higher floor with a bed, a closet, and my own bathroom. However, for punishments, I would be sent back into my previous cell with no food and would be chained to the wall. Otto too had reached a higher ranking and was now my guard in charge of ensuring that I stayed imprisoned and powerless. He, however, did what he could to feed me and treat my injuries from the trainings._

 _"Please…No….I'm tired…I don't wanna do it anymore," I moaned, digging deeper into the torn mattress. Despite my better treatment, I was still a prisoner and given only used items to own._

 _Otto quickly lifted me up from the bed and stood me up, "Here, take this. And get ready. You have 5 minutes." He shoved two granola bars and a banana into my hands before exiting my room._

 _Finally awake, I rapidly changed into my clothes as I stuffed all the food into my mouth, running into Otto as I exited the room._

 _"It took you long enough," he muttered before roughly grabbing my arm and leading me towards the training room as we passed guild members._

 _I flinched as his grip burned my sore muscles but didn't say a word. I knew he was only doing it to avoid being questioned by the guild members._

 _"Ahh, Good Morning Sweetie! I hope you have had a good night rest," said Midnight as Otto released me and she came to kiss my cheek._

 _"Ohiyo Aunt Midnight," I replied with a small smile, knowing that I had to keep her happy to have an easier training day, "I slept like a rock!"_

 _She chuckled and ran her fingers through my hair, "I'm glad my sweet little ruby." She then stood up and clapped her hands together, "Today is a special day my dear!"_

 _"Why?" I asked, unsure of how to respond._

 _"You've successfully completed your training!" she said, smiling and then lifting me up._

 _"So I am done?" I asked warily._

 _"You're done with this training, yes, but you still have a lot to do my dear!" she claimed._

 _"Sister, is she ready yet?" asked the Master as he walked into the training ground._

 _I felt my body stiffen and Midnight began to rock me up and down; I had not seen the Master since I had first arrived and knew from Otto that he rarely left his office unless needed._

 _"Brother, I thought I told you that I would handle this. Don't scare the poor dear," she scolded slightly as she turned to face him, still holding me._

 _"There have been a change in plans and we need to move forward with the next phase," he said, "Show me what you have learned in training Poppy."_

 _I looked at Midnight who easily put me down and stood by her brother. She waved her hand and held a one. I then turned to face the opposite wall where a chain of steel plates stood. "Earth Dragon's," I inhaled quickly, "ROAR!" The chain of steel was easily demolished along with the wall of the training center. A guild member rapidly ran after seeing the damage created._

 _I turned to face Midnight and the Master once more._

 _"Perfect," replied the Master, a sly grin on his face, "Sister, take her."_

 _Midnight nodded and then picked me up once more, following her brother out of the training ground and into the hallway._

 _"Brother, are you sure you want to do this now? I do not believe she is ready. She is just warming up to us as well…" said Midnight before being cut off by the Master._

 _"She will comply regardless. We must speed this along and whether or not she does it willingly is not an issue for we both know that she has no choice."_

 _Midnight sighed, "Fair enough but allow me to handle it first."_

 _As I overheard their conversation, I began to notice my surroundings more and more. We seemed to be going further down the guild to a place I did not recognize yet radiated a negative feeling. The Master opened a door and I instantly remembered: the Lab._

 _"Please, Please no! Auntie Midnight! I'll be good! I'll wake up earlier and train earlier! Please!" I begged to her as I struggled in her arms._

 _"Hush now dear, it will all be over soon if you listen and behave," she replied, walking towards the wall as a man in a lab coat approached me. The Master stood near the lacrima waiting._

 _"No! No! No! Please!" I yelled, tears in my eyes as I fought Midnight as hard as I could. Given that she herself had trained me within the last month, I was in much better shape and was able to scratch her._

 _Her eyes glowed angrily as she saw the scratch on her right arm._

 _"Good girls don't hurt their elders! It's time for you to learn a lesson!" she stated furiously, quickly slamming me to the wall and allowing the men in the laboratory coats to strap my left wrist to the wall. Given that I was small and this was meant for those older than me, the chain lifted me from the ground so that only my body was hanging up by my left wrist- causing me terrible pain on my left shoulder._

 _"Gah!" I yelled, as I felt as though my arm was being ripped away from my body._

 _The man walked over to some screens and began to flick some switches. Scared, I did the one thing I could and attempted to use my magic._

 _"Earth Dragon's" I began, before screeching in pain as electricity zapped every part of my body and my wrist broke from supporting my weight._

 _The pain stopped for a minute but I still twitched as the electricity ran through my body._

 _"This is made to take your magic," said the Master, oddly close._

 _I opened one eye to look at him, breathing heavily and tears falling from my eyes as I tried to stay awake even though I was in pain._

 _He chuckled softly as he looked at me, "You are most definitely strong." He turned away and walked towards the lacrima, "All of your magic will be stored in this lacrima. You cannot use your magic while in this room or in close proximity to the lacrima as it will harness your power. This will enable us to use it to change the world." The Master walked near a switch, holding it in his hands, "I have grand plans for you child – or rather, for your magic. Do not fear, we will not dispose of you…yet." With that, he flipped the switch and I felt my magic drain out of me through my wrist before I shut my eyes to surrender to the darkness._

"From that point on, my magic was extracted. I was a test subject," I said, finishing my story as I did not want to go to any more details. I held on to my left wrist and winced as I remembered the pain of each and every extraction.

Erza hugged me tight and gave me a light kiss on my head and I leaned into her, wanting only to forget everything,

"How long were you there?" asked the Master.

I looked at him sadly, "Two years." The Guild gasped as the girls began to cry and the boys held their hands in fists. "I got lucky one day. Usually, they kept me strong enough so that I could walk alone but not strong enough for me to use much magic say than growing a small flower. But, for some reason, they forgot about me for a week –though I've been unconscious for longer – and their guild was occupied. I took a chance and I ran away as soon as I could. I didn't have food or anything but I knew I had to get away. I-I couldn't use magic though…I was too scared…So I snuck through the back of the guild and found an old tunnel under the guild and the prison. I followed that for as long as I could before I finally saw light and climbed outside to the middle of a city street. The townspeople sure were scared but not as scared as I so I ran to a nearby forest because I didn't want to be near people in case a guild member was out. Since then, I stuck to the forests and hid myself in towns hoping to find Mermaid Heel so I can see Kagura and Violet again. One day, I heard about a mage with long red hair who had destroyed the tower. I got excited and decided to look for her, hopeful that maybe it was my sister and, well, here I am now." I ended happily as I smiled to everyone.

"And here you will stay," said Erza, smiling at me as the guild members nodded their heads in agreement.

"I'll beat that guy to a pulp so you will never have to see him again!" yelled Natsu, his fists catching on fire.

"I will be the first to him," replied Erza, a dark aura appearing around her.

"Now, now," began the old man, "We have no clues on their whereabouts and need to think this through before we attack," Natsu began to complain but was soon swatted away by the old man's hand, "Fear not, we will avenge Poppy. We will teach them to never mess with our Nakama again. But for now, let us continue our lives until we collect more information. Levy can begin to look for clues on where they may be located while the rest of you brats need to keep your ears open during missions and listen for clues. As for right now, let us leave and let Poppy rest."

The guild mumbled and began to shuffle out of the infirmary; Levy and Mira discussed how to begin the search while Gray, Gajeel, and Natsu argued about who was going to beat up Kumori first. Soon, only Wendy, Charle, Lucy, Makarov, and Erza remained with me.

"My dear child, if you have any more information, let us know so we can get to the bottom of this but do not fear for you are safe now," said the old man before walking away.

Lucy came near me and gave me hug as she cried a bit on my shoulder, "Gomen, Poppy. I wish you would have stayed longer at my house and maybe you could have avoided being kidnapped but trust me, they will never be able to touch you again. I'm here for you, Erza's here for you, Wendy, Levy, Natus, Gray, all of Fairy Tail will protect you."

I blinked a few tears away as I hugged her tightly back, "Arigato, Lucy."

She smiled and then left the infirmary, still sniffing some.

Wendy came up to me and hugged me after, "Friends forever Poppy-Chan! I healed you to the best of my ability but you do need to rest now. If you need anything, let me know."

"Always Wendy-chan! Arigato," I called to her as she also left, leaving only Erza and I.

I looked at Erza who will still sitting on the edge of the bed and leaned against her shoulder.

"Ne, Poppy?"

"Hai?"

"Gomen Nasai," she whispered and I saw tears fall from her eyes, "I should have found you sooner."

I hugged her and she held me back tightly, "It's not your fault nee-san. It was only a year. And I'm here now. And I'm never going back."

"Yes. I promise I'll protect you. I am never leaving you again Poppy. Never," she said firmly, holding me in her arms as though someone was threatening to take me away again.

I sat there, comfortably as I listened to her heart beat and felt her fingers brush my hair. I felt safe and soon I began to fall asleep.


	11. 11 Erza's POV

**Here's Erza POV!**

Erza's POV

I stared at Poppy sleeping in my arms.

The events of the last weeks flooding my mind from the moment she hugged me, injured and dirty and looked up to me, to seeing her laugh with the guild to her crying at night and sleeping with me, to watching her use Dragon Slaying Magic to watching her nearly leave me again and to her telling us her past before she fell asleep in my arms.

 _Flashback_

 _"Nee-san! I found you," cried the little red-head wrapped around my waist before she passed out. I looked at her in shock, not moving until I caught her as she fainted and held her in my arms, unable to comprehend what had happened._

 _"Erza! Take that girl to the infirmary and clean her up!" Commanded the Master, disrupting me from my thoughts. I nodded my head and immediately went to the back, putting my emotions and theory aside to help this little red-head in my arms._

 _"I can heal her!" Said Wendy, coming to my side and opening the infirmary door for me._

 _The doors closed before I could hear the questions the guild had. I carefully laid the little red-head down in a bed before a grabbed some rags to begin cleaning her off._

 _She was a mess. Dirt and dried blood scattered surrounded her body with a multitude of tiny scars. Her left wrist was swollen and she had bruising on her ribs. Nothing life-threatening and Wendy quickly healed her up while bandaging her wrist and some of the smaller scratches._

 _"Erza?" Asked a voice behind me as the door opened and two pairs of footsteps._

 _I turned to see Lucy and Mira walking in looking concerned._

 _"How is she?" Asked Lucy, her eyes full of worried and another emotion I could not identify. Shock? Recognition?_

 _Wendy answered, "She will be okay. She had some slight injuries and her major ones, a bruised rib, an infected wrist, and a minor concussion, have all been healed. She's still a bit dirty though...and she needs new clothes..."_

 _"Why don't you and Lucy go get clothes for her? She doesn't seem that much smaller than you and could fit in your clothes? Erza and I can clean her up more by the time you two return," Asked Mira, still looking at me while I glanced back at the little red-head lying on the bed._

 _Wendy nodded, "Hai." She turned to Lucy who was still looking at the little red-head before nodding too, "We'll be back shortly."_

 _I watched them leave before turning back to the little-red head resting on the bed._

 _"Erza?" asked Mira, standing beside me._

 _I nodded, "Yes?"_

 _"Is she..." asked Mira quietly, looking at me carefully. She was the only person in the guild other than the Master who knew that I had a little sister. I never talked about her since it brought too much pain and would always leave for an S class mission as her birthday grew closer to be alone and look for her._

 _I stared at the little red-head. The red hair, the green eyes, everything was the same. She had grown up._

 _"I... I don't know Mira... I don't want to believe it and get my hopes up but... She's just like my imouto... My little Poppy..." I said, quietly as I controlled my emotions._

 _"Why don't we clean her up more? Before Wendy and Lucy come back so she can be clean," suggested Mira._

 _I nodded and carefully lifted her up to bathe her in a bathtub._

 _"Erza, her hair... It's just like yours..."said Mira, stroking the red hair in her hand as we dried her off._

 _"Erza-san! Mira-san! We are back!" called Wendy._

 _Mira stood up to pick up the clothes from Wendy and we quickly dressed the little red-head before I brought her back to her bed._

 _"Erza...She looks just like you...I never realized before..." said Lucy quickly, looking at the little red-head and then at me._

 _I nodded, "I will be going out now since I do not believe she will wake up yet. I need to speak to the Master. Let me know if her condition changes."_

 _I quickly walked out of the room and out of the guild to head straight for my room in Fairy Hills- the Master could wait a bit while I figured out my own feelings..._

 _Flashback_

 _I stared at the little red-head as she stared back at me, running up to her when she responded to the nickname I gave to my little sister when we were young._

 _"It is you! You are finally back with me!" I thought, overjoyed to be with little sister again._

 _Flashback_

 _I cooked all I could for Poppy. I saw the sorrow in her eyes as I scrutinized her small frame and knew she was embarrassed that she was skinny which only hurt me more of why she was so tiny. When was the last time she had eaten a proper meal?_

 _She devoured all and I left to return to the kitchen to bake her a vanilla cake when I heard a brawl begin and Lucy calling Poppy's name. Quickly, I rushed out and saw Poppy slamming to the wall and falling to the ground because of Natsu. "Baka.." I thought, ready to kill the idiot for hurting my little sister._

 _Flashback_

 _I woke up to Poppy's terrified shrieks and I ran to her room, reequipping a sword in case someone was hurting her. I saw Poppy crying and mumbling in her sleep; she was having a nightmare._

 _"No! That's a lie! They didn't leave!" she shouted before she screamed and cried harder._

 _I dropped my sword, grabbed her shoulders and began shaking her, "Wake up Poppy!"_

 _When she finally woke up, her frightened emerald eyes took one look at me before she collapsed in my arms weeping._

 _"Shhhh Poppy. It's okay. I'm here," I said soothingly, rubbing her back to comfort her._

 _It worried to see my sister worked up to such a state. When she finally calmed down and asked to sleep with me, I immediately said yes. Anything to help her. She quickly fell asleep as she snuggled against me and I couldn't help to wonder what had happened to my little sister to cause her this fear and anguish._

 _Flashback_

 _It had been two days of Poppy looking depressed and scared. She began talking less and less and was too scared to sleep alone. I did not know how to help her so I took her to the guild hoping seeing her nakama would help. There I could ask Mira for advice..._

 _"Mira, I'm worried for Poppy. How can I help her if she does not talk to me about it?" I asked Mira as we stood beside the stairs and I watched Poppy sit quietly on the counter._

 _"Give Poppy some time. She may be still adjusting to life here. Make it as normal as possible. I'm sure she will open to you soon. She loves you," responded Mira, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder._

 _"Arigato Mira," I replied before hearing Natsu call for Lucy and Poppy._

 _Flashback_

 _"Something does not seem right..." I thought, walking along the trail to look for the criminals, "It's too quiet..."_

 _I suddenly heard shouts and saw the flashes of magic behind me._

 _"Poppy!" I thought, sprinting back quickly, "Please be okay!"_

 _I saw Poppy stuck in quicksand and the arrows targeted to hit her. Her eyes lit in fear before she closed them and I arrived just in time to snap them and pull her out._

 _I watched as Lucy took Poppy away before facing the criminals who dared to hurt my sister._

 _"They will pay," I mumbled in complete and utter rage._

 _I fought the arrows with all my might before I heard Poppy scream my name and turned to her, worried for her. I watched her use Dragon Slaying Magic and saw Otto torturing her right in front of me while I could do nothing to help._

 _"Poppppyyyyyy!" I yelled, catching her before she fell to the ground. "Poppy?! Poppy! Are you okay?" She looked so frail and small. Her body twitched with electricity and I could feel her magic power diminishing before me. "Poppy?! Poppy please!" I cried._

 _Natsu slowly lifted her up from me while Gray put a hand on my shoulder, "Let's take her to guild. Wendy can look at her."_

 _"Virgo can take care of her on our way there," said Lucy, calling her spirit._

 _I nodded, frightened and worried for Poppy._

"She looks so peaceful," I thought, looking at her innocent expression and the slight smile she had on her face as she slept against my chest. By her look, it was as though she had never seen evil before but I now know the truth. She had been hurt over and over again, losing the ones she loved and then being taken in captivity for years before running alone, similar to my own childhood but Poppy was young and my little sister.

I clenched my jaw in anger and held Poppy closer to me, "They ruined her childhood. He took away everything from her. I can see the fear in each smile and see how her eyes linger at me whenever I move out of sight and feel how she clutches me tighter in her sleep. She's scared that she'll be alone again, that she is the reason everyone keeps leaving."

I brushed her hair away from her face and began moving her onto the bed and off of me. I slowly planted a kiss on her forehead, watching her smile grow wider, and tucked her in before I left the infirmary.

"They'll pay."


	12. Chapter 12

**_Here are some short updates to make up for my lack of updates_**

 _"_ _Hello? Nee-san? Lucy? Wendy-chan? Natsu? Gray? Mira? Anybody?" I called out into the darkness._

 _I was in the guild, yet instead of it being noisy and loud, there was absolutely no one around. The bar counter had a few glasses sitting about while the tables were all empty. Outside, it was stormy so barely any light reached the inside but my eyes quickly adjusted to what little light there was from a year of living underground._

 _"_ _Erza-nee? Where are you?" I called nervously, walking up the stairs to where the S Class requests were I hoped to find Erza._

 _"_ _Erza-nee?! No!" I gasped, looking before me._

 _"_ _This is what happens when you disobey" said Kumori standing over the body of an unmoving Erza._

 _"_ _My sweet, you do not need any of these silly fairies," said Midnight behind me, dumping the bodies of Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Wendy in front of me._

 _"_ _No…No… No, NO NO!"_ _I yelled, running to Erza as tears left my eyes._

 _"_ _ERZA-NEE?! ERZA-NEE! PLEASE! WAKE UP! DON'T LEAVE ME!" I yelled, shaking her body slightly._

 _"_ _She left, just like she did when you were young but fret not my dear one, we are still here," whispered Midnight, putting her hands on my shoulders to pick me up._

 _"_ _NO! NO! NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!_ _ERZA-NEE! ERZA-NEEEEEE! MINNA! HELP!" I screamed as Midnight took me away._

"AHHHH!" I shouted, shooting up from the infirmary bed as I woke up.

"Poppy?! Poppy! Are you okay?!" exclaimed Erza as she ran into the infirmary, sword out.

Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Wendy, Levy, Gajeel, and Mira followed behind her, ready to fight.

"Poppy-chan, are you hurt?" asked Wendy walking up to me.

"Minna…" I whispered, looking at them with tears in my eyes, before turning away. "Gomen, I…I'm fine. I just had a bad dream. That's all. Sorry for worrying you."

Erza looked to them and hinted for them to leave. Gray grabbed Natsu's shoulder, leading him away while Lucy and Wendy walked away slowly together, their eyes lingering on me.

Mira looked towards Erza before walking towards me and hugging me. "You have nothing to be sorry about Poppy. Everything will be okay. All of us are here for you."

I looked at her, the tears falling from my eyes. Mira smiled slightly and patted my hair before leaving, nodding slightly to Erza as she left and placing her hand on Erza's left shoulder.

Erza came to me, holding her arms up as she sat on the bed. I instantly fell into her arms, clutching her shirt close to me and crying a bit.

"Erza-nee…Gomen…I keep bugging you…I'm weak…"I whispered.

"Poppy," she said, pushing me slightly away so that she could meet my eyes, "You will _never_ bug me. You are _not_ weak. You are strong; I have never seen anyone stronger than you. You had a rough past and when you came here, you refused to give up." She chuckled slightly, "You threatened to use magic against us remember?"

I thought back, "I wasn't actually going to though…I was too scared."

Erza shook her head slightly, "But you did not show it. You were brave. And, Poppy, I am your older sister and I will _always_ be here for you. No matter what."

She held me close, one hand resting on the top of my head as I hugged her back, letting tears fall freely but not making any sound.

"I have to get stronger, for Erza-nee and Lucy and the rest of the guild. I can't let them take me again," I thought, holding Erza tightly as though she were to disappear at that moment.

A few moments later, I pulled out of the hug and wiped my eyes, sniffling a bit but determined to stay strong.

"Are you feeling better?" asked Erza, keeping one hand rested on my back and looking at me.

I nodded, "Hei, Arigato Nee-san!"

"Ne, nee-san?"

"Hm?"

"How was it for you? These past years? Violet told me about the child enslavement and Gaia told me about a tower but I never knew if you were there or not."

Erza looked at me, her face with sorrow, "I was taken to build the Tower of Heaven along with many other children and adults to resurrect Zeref. I made friends with other children and an old Fairy Tail mage named Rob who all made it easier to live there but what made me determined to survive was knowing that you were out there someone. I knew I had to escape at some point so I can find you. It…wasn't easy… I lost my right eye…but I had hopes that we would be reunited…"

I gasped when I heard that she had lost her right eye and gave her a tight hug.

"I'm sorry Erza-nee."

She hugged me back and smiled slightly, "It's alright Poppy. I escaped the tower and found my way to Fairy Tail where Porlyusica gave me an artificial eye and I found a family within the guild. Though I was happy, there was also something missing. You."

I looked up to her, my emerald eyes meeting her brown eyes.

She smiled and patted my head, "As soon as I escaped and joined Fairy Tail, I grew determined to find you again. The Master knew and Mira knew about you but I never told the others. The Master wouldn't allow me to search for you, in fear you were also captured, until I became an S Class Mage. So, when I was fifteen, I took the test and passed, becoming the youngest member to be an S Class Wizard. From there on, I would take requests and look for you. Every birthday, I left the Guild and took whatever clues I could to find a red-headed girl but they never led to you – and now I know why."

I looked down, not meeting her eyes knowing that the reason she couldn't find me was because of my captivity.

"Poppy," she said, brushing my hair back and I looked up to her, "I could only imagine what you must have gone through. Gomen Nasai…I didn't know..." her voice shook and I hugged her again, burying my face in her chest as I hid my own tears.

"It's okay Erza-nee. I'm here now. And I want to stay here," I mumbled, my voice raw.

Erza hugged me back tightly, "I promise you Poppy. You are never leaving me again."


	13. Mira-san

I spent one more night in the infirmary under the watchful eyes of Porlyusica and Wendy in order to regain some magic before I was released to Erza with strict orders of not using magic for another week or so. Most of my injuries were healed other than my wrist which would be kept in a cast for a couple of more days to ensure that it heals properly.

"How are you feeling Poppy-chan?" asked Lucy, sitting next to me by the bar counter as Mira also came up, handing Lucy a strawberry milkshake and handing me a vanilla milkshake along with some medicine.

"It's to help you regain your magic and prevent you from getting sick; Porlyusica left them for you and Erza has the rest," said Mira, with a smile as she noticed my confused look.

"Okie Dokie," I replied, swallowing the medicine with delicious vanilla shake.

"I'm alright Lucy. I'm feeling a lot better now though I'm still quite tired and don't have much energy," I answered, smiling at her as I drank more milkshake.

"You've healed up quickly. Most of your injuries are gone and you're able to move about."

I smiled, "That's thanks to Porlyusica-san and Wendy-chan." I held my left hand up, "This is the only injury. It couldn't fully heal yet given how hurt it was but it'll be better soon!" I finished, drinking the rest of my milkshake.

"Oi! Lucy! Let's go on a mission!" shouted Natsu, running towards her with his backpack on and Happy floating next to him.

"We already picked one out!" said Happy, holding a request worth 700,000 jewels.

"700,000 Jewels! I can pay my rent for the next couple of months with that!" Lucy replied, her eyes wide, before she looked at me.

"What about Team Natsu?" asked Lucy.

Natsu looked confused, "What about the team? We can all go?"

Lucy sighed, "Baka Natsu! Poppy can't use her magic yet and Erza wouldn't want her to go."

"Erza is with the Master at a council meeting looking for clues on the dark guild that took Poppy and Wendy left with Porlyusica to look for more healing supplies," added Mira.

"That still leaves you, mini-Erza, the Ice Princess, and Happy! Come on Lucy! We haven't gone on a mission for weeks!" pleaded Natsu, giving her puppy dog eyes.

"Think of your rent," whispered Happy into her ear.

I looked at them as Lucy met my eyes, biting her lip before I smiled, "No worries Lucy-san! You guys go on ahead and find that treasure," I said, pointing at Natsu's request, "I'll stay here and rest while I wait for Erza-nee! She'd kill you and me if I left all of the sudden," I added mumbling.

Natsu sweat-dropped, thinking of Erza, "Poppy is right...Erza would be mad if Poppy joined us and got hurt."

"Erza's scary!" mumbled Happy slowly dropping to the ground in fear.

I chuckled, "Erza-nee's not that bad!"

"Oi! Ash for Brains! Are we going on that mission?" shouted Gray, walking towards us shirtless.

"Come on Lucy!" said Natsu, ignoring Gray as he looked to Lucy.

Lucy sighed, standing up, "I do need to pay my rent...Okay! Let's go! You'll-"

"Lu-chan!" interrupted Levy, running up to Lucy, her hair slightly disheaveled as she carried a large book.

"Oh! What is it Levy-chan?" turning towards her.

"The mission...you're going on! The town it's near had a couple of kidnappings two years ago, of young mages. The kidnappers were never found but sightings of a man using arrow magic and two big men."

My eyes widened, "Otto..." remembering the times someone else would wake me up to go training because he was on a mission.

"Apparently, he was sighted in that area again. No kidnaps have been reported," Levy said looking at me as Mira placed a hand on my shoulder. "Can you guys stop by and check it out to see if there are any clues to where their guild headquarters are?"

Natsu nodded seriously, "Yeah, we'll stop by and look around. I remember that bastard's scent so if he's there, I'll find him." Natsu punched his fists together as Happy chimed, "Aye Sir!"

"We better get going to catch the next train," said Gray, heading out of the Guild shirtless. Natsu began to look green, "Do we have to go on a train?" as he walked away sheepishly with Happy following him.

"Take this Lu-chan," said Levy, handing Lucy her book, "These are reports and the history of that town. Be careful and good luck!" she finished, giving Lucy a hug.

"I'll make sure Natsu doesn't destroy anything..." Lucy mumbled, returning the hug, "Arigato Levy-chan!" Lucy then turned to me, "Are you sure it's okay?"

I slowly left my memories, noticing Lucy's, Mira's, and Levy's concerned looks before nodding quickly, "Hei! Erza-nee will be back and I should rest! Enjoy the mission and let me know if you find any clues," I said standing and giving Lucy a hug, "I'll be here this time, waiting," I mumbled.

Lucy returned the hug, tightly, before releasing me and following the ream, "Ja ne! We'll be back soon!"

I watched them leave before sitting back down on the bar stool.

"Here you go Poppy-chan," said Mira, handing me another vanilla milkshake.

"Are you okay Poppy-chan?" asked Levy, taking the seat Lucy was in.

I nodded, "Hei, I just wished I could have gone..."

"Don't be silly Poppy-chan! Natsu, Gray, and Lucy can handle the job and they'll be back soon! Plus, you still need to regain your magic!" said Levy.

"Erza will return soon as well," added Mira.

I sighed, "I know but I can't help and feel guilty. I showed up unexpectedly at the Guild, hurt, and as soon as I healed up, I got injured again and I was the reason behind the attack in the first place! I don't want to be the reason any of you get hurt..." my eyes slowly watered as I whispered the last bit.

Levy came and gave me a hug, "Poppy-chan, you are part of Fairy Tail and are our Nakama. We will always fight for you. Plus, this is Fairy Tail, the number one Guild in Fiore! We will not go down easily!"

I nodded, chuckling at that.

"I have to go now Poppy, but I'll see you later okay?" said Levy, releasing me.

"Hei! Arigato Levy-san!"

Mira tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to face her.

"Why don't we go on a walk? Erza might take a while and it might help if you had some fresh air," asked Mira, smiling.

I nodded, "Okay!"

Mira came around the bar and I stood to follow her out.

"Elfman. Lissana. I'm going out with Poppy for a while, will you two watch the bar for me?" asked mira, stopping in front of her siblings.

"That's a Man's job!" exclaimed Elfman, quickly walking towards the bar.

Lisanna looked at him nervously, "I'll keep an on him Mira-Nee!"

"Arigato Lisanna!" replied Mira before walking out. I quickly followed her.

We walked for about twenty minutes, away from the Guild and Magnolia. We passed Fairy Hills before Mira began to follow a trail into a small, woodland area. Mira turned to me while still walking, "Are you okay Poppy?"

I nodded, torn between feeling completely relaxed in nature and a bit nervous in entering a forested area again - not that it's dense with trees but still... Erza-nee wasn't here. "I'm okay," I responded, not knowing how to express my thoughts.

"I have two younger siblings Poppy, so don't try and lie to me," she replied, causing me to blush, as she began to slow down, "We're here."

I looked around and saw that we were in a small clearing next to a stream. There was a table and chairs built from wood but seemed rarely used in compared to some mats hidden next to a tree.

"Mira-san, what is this?" I asked point at the marks on the tree.

Mira stood behind me, "These mark the amount of missions Erza went on to try and find you. On your birthday or around holidays, she went on missions and we didn't see her for a week or more. When she returned from her missions, she would check in at the Guild before coming here, saying it reminded her of your hideout when you were a kid. I would sometimes join her and give her company as only the Master and I knew about you."

"Why did you bring me here?" I asked, turning to Mira confused.

"To talk," she replied, picking up two mats and laying them out. She sat down and leaned against the tree. I copied her and looked towards her.

"What's been on your mind?" asked Mira, "Answer honestly please"

I leaned back on the tree and shut my eyes, trying to think of what to say before I heard my voice spill everything to Mira.

"I feel guilty Mira, but I'm so happy and, at the same time, I'm scared. If anyone gets hurt because of Otto, or Midnight or the Master, then it's all my fault! It's my fault Otto is like this way since I escaped without him and the Master punished him. I feel guilty for making Erza-nee worry for me and Fairy Tail for worrying for me. I feel guilty for leaving Kagura and Violet-nee."

"But I'm so happy! Fairy Tail is such a fun guild to be in. It's a family and I love you guys so much and I'm with Erza-nee again, after all these years."

"And it makes me sad because she went through so much and our childhoods were taken from us."

"And I'm scared for the future. What happens if they find us? What happens if someone gets hurt? What happens if I lose Erza-nee again? What happens if I'm alone again? I'm weak...and I can't lose her again..."

I finished, wiping my eyes as tears fell down.

Mira pulled me close to her and wrapped her arms around me as I lost control and cried.

Just like Erza-nee, Mira stroked my hair as I cried into her chest.

"It's okay Poppy. You can let it all out," soothed Mira.

I soon stopped crying and wiped the tears out of my eyes as I began to sit up, though Mira stopped me, smiling at me. I smiled back and then rested my head on her lap where she continued to stroke my hair.

"You know Poppy...I lost Lisanna once. I thought she was gone forever. I felt awful because she is my younger sister and I am supposed to protect her but all I could do was help Elfman. He needed me."

I listened to Mira carefully as she stopped stroking my hair for a minute before continuing.

"Then...One day...She came back. Out of nowhere my little sister came back. She was healthy and she was alive and I could not believe that I had her back."

"But, as I watched her, I could see that time had passed between us and that was hard. I was supposed to protect her and watch her grow up but it seemed that she had done it herself. She could protect herself and, as much as I did not want to admit it, she had grown up. But I wouldn't change anything. At least I had her back and I am going to enjoy every minute I spend with her. I could not be there for her as a kid, but at least I can be there for her now and watch her grow to a strong woman."

"Yes, you and Erza were seperated when you both were kids and you lost time that you cannot get back but you have more time for the future now that you two are together. You're still a child Poppy. You're still growing up and Erza will be there for you."

I smiled and closed my eyes as I continued to listen to her.

"Erza will always be there for you. I've known Erza for a long time, ever since she joined the Guild. She never told anyone about her past other than the Master and me but she didn't tell me until after I lost Lisanna. Before that, we didn't get along. We would always fight and argue because she would show up to the guild after long missions and never told anyone where she went. It was annoying because she shut everyone out. It wasn't until after I lost Lisanna that we became close. Erza found me crying next to Lisanna's grave and gave me a hug. She told me that she knew my pain and that we can't give up as older sisters."

"Erza never gave up on you Poppy. She knew that you were out there somewhere and was determined to find you. And, now that you're back, she will stay by your side."

I slowly felt myself begin to fall asleep as her strokes comforted me.

"And it's not just Erza but all of Fairy Tail. Poppy, you will never be hurt by that Dark Guild again. We will not let them touch you. They will be taken in for all their evil doings."

"And Poppy, you will never be alone again. We're your Nakama and always will be.

 _(Note: Poppy has fallen asleep)_

Mira smiled and looked down at Poppy, brushing her red hair out of her forehead, "It looks like you have fallen asleep...You are still recovering and the walk here must have taken a toll on you. It's alright Poppy. Just rest and get better. We'll take care of you."

"I thought I would find you here," said Erza, leaning against the tree and looking down at Mira and Poppy, smiling at the scene before her.

"Erza! I hope you weren't worried!" replied Mira, looking up to Erza.

Erza shrugged, "I almost murdered Cana when I overheard her say that Natsu and Lucy had gone on a mission and she hadn't seen Poppy since they have left. I was ready to kill Natsu for being an idiot and taking Poppy out but Lisanna saw me and told me that Poppy went on a walk with you. I thought of places you would go and this was the only place that came to mind... Is she okay?" asked Erza, worryingly.

Mira nodded, brushing Poppy's hair and looking down at her with a slight smile. "Her injuries are almost healing and she already took her medicine. I believe the medicine and the walk exhausted her but she's resting. She's struggling to adjust... She's scared Erza and worried. She doesn't want to hurt you again but she doesn't want to be left alone again. I think she's happy to be in Fairy Tail but she doesn't know how to fit in and part of it is because of her time in Mermaid Heel. She misses Kagura and Violet. She's lost a lot of people Erza, and I think she's terrified that it's all her fault that everyone has left. She doesn't want to be alone anymore."

Erza sighed, "I know, I see the way she acts. As soon as she thinks I'm not looking, her eyes grow sad and scared and she can be quite jumpy but I promise that she will never be left alone again. I can't lose her again. I'll help her move forward just as the guild helped me move forward after living in the Tower."

"Did you find any information on the dark guild from the council?" asked Mira, looking back to Erza.

Erza shook her head, "No. They hadn't known this was occurring. They're going to start looking at all their reports and let me know if they find any information. But the guild is going down." She curled her hand into a fist, "They will never touch her again."

Mira nodded, and looked to Poppy before returning her eyes to Erza, "Never."

Erza sighed, "I am going to take Poppy back now and let her rest in bed. I'll give her more medicine when she wakes up."

Erza slowly lifted Poppy up bridal style and smiled as Poppy snuggled closer to her. She carefully reequipped out of her armor into her regular clothes and Poppy soon grabbed a handful of Erza's shirt as she slept.

Mira stood up and smiled, "She's just soo cute! And so innocent."

Erza nodded, "She's seen so much but she's still just a child, barely ten. Thank you for watching over her Mira and for talking to her; I think she needed to get it out of her."

Mira put a hand on Erza's shoulder, "Always Erza. She's family. Don't hesitate to ask for help."

With that, the two began to walk back towards Fairy Hills as the little red-head slept peacefully, feeling safe and cared for.


	14. The Bind

**Minna! Thanks for the reviews. Here's the next update. I'll update once I get another review :) So lemme know what you think!**

"Ohiyo Erza! How's Poppy?" asked Mira from the doorway of our room. Erza was standing in her normal clothes, bidding Mira in as I laid on top of Erza's bed reading a book.

"She's doing better, aren't you Poppy?" asked Erza as both she and Mira walked over to me.

I nodded, shutting the book and sitting up on the bed, "Yeah! I slept a lot the last three days because of the medicine and Wendy's been over healing my injuries. The only part that hasn't fully healed is my wrist because of the magic bound which has prevented from healing it as much."

"Some of the magic lingers and Porlyusica is concerned that too much magic on her wrist, which has been affected the most, can prevent complete usage. Until all that magic disperses, Wendy cannot heal it," explained Erza to Mira.

Mira nodded, "I am glad you are doing better! Everyone in the guild has been worried about you although I have told them that you are resting and Wendy has kept them updated on your condition. Natsu, Lucy, and Gray are returning from their job today as well."

"Did those idiots destroy anything?" asked Erza, looking at Mira who giggled and answered,

"There was a report of a fire and ice brawl outside the village they had helped but someone reported that they saw a golden light and an annoyed looking blonde wizard walking away followed by three men, two of whom were held by the ear by a man in glasses and a suit – Loki. Surprisingly, not much damage was caused"

Erza nodded, "Good. We can go visit the guild if you feel up to it," asked Erza, looking at me.

"It would be nice for the guild members to see you again, but you can continue resting here if you would like," added Mira, looking at me.

I looked at the two of them. Erza's face showed concern while Mira smiled at me.

I stood up and nodded, "Of course! I'd love to go back and see everyone again."

They both smiled.

"Great! We can head to the guild now if you would like, once we clean and re-bandage your wrist," said Erza.

Mira turned to Erza, "I could do that and take Poppy to the guild; the Master wants to see you as soon as possible since he has returned from another council meeting."

Noticing the silent conversation between the two of them, I spoke up. "It's okay Erza! You go on ahead and I'll see you at the guild!"

Erza turned to me and looked at me as I met her gaze, attempting to ease her worries. The last three days I had slept quite a lot and spent most of my time awake with Erza with little energy. She had taken care of me and helped me regain my energy and, thereby, magic. She had told me stories of her adventures with the guild at night as I would sleep with her in her bed, still having nightmares on occasion.

I nodded again before hugging her tightly, "It's okay Erza. I'm better and I'm not as tired anymore. We will see each other in the guild! Besides, Mira will watch me and I promise I'll tell her if I'm not feeling well."

She hugged me back and chuckled, "You're right. I'm being a bit silly. I will see you at the guild then!"

We let go and she turned to Mira, "Thank you Mira."

Mira nodded, "Of course! We will see you at the guild."

Erza headed out of the room, "See you soon!"

I waved to her with my right hand, "See ya Nee-san!"

Mira turned back to me, "Now then, why don't we take a look of that wrist at yours so we can head to the guild."

Both she and I walked to the bathroom where the first aid kit was and she quickly lifted me up to the counter, reminding me of my small size.

"I could have done it myself you know," I mumbled, sheepishly looking down.

Mira chuckled and lifted my chin up, causing me to meet her eyes, "You could have. I do not doubt it but I'm sure Erza had done the same thing to ensure that you don't strain yourself – especially with your shifts in energy."

I looked down again, as she began to unravel the bandages on my wrist, "I'm not used to it yet… And I don't want to be treated like a child," I mumbled.

Mira carefully held my wrist to keep it from moving as she cleaned it out with ointment, "I know Poppy, but this is your new home and you are with family again. You are a child still, just as Wendy and Romeo are and you are younger than them. You are a wizard as well but at home, with us, you can be yourself."

"Okay," I replied, as Mira wrapped my wrist carefully. Her hands skillfully keeping my wrist still and providing a firm yet comforting bandage.

She tapped my wrist and then looked at me, "Now then, ready to head to the guild?"

I smiled and nodded, "Aye!"

She laughed at that and helped me down, "Now you sound like Happy!"

"Well, I haven't seen Happy in a while. Besides, I'm older than him so I used it before he did," I replied, as we walked out of Erza's and my dorm, out of Fairy Hills, and towards the guild.

Throughout the walk, Mira filled me in with the details of what the other members had been up to while I listened, trying to remember each guild member's name and face.

"Oi! Mira-san! Mini-Erza!" shouted Natsu from down the road, smiling and waving his arms as Happy flew beside him and Gray and Lucy followed behind. Mira and I stopped in front of the gate to the guild, waving back to the team.

"Her name is Poppy!" said Lucy, smacking Natsu's head as the team stopped in front of us, before turning to me "How are you doing Poppy?"

I smiled, "Better! Wendy healed all my injuries other than my wrist and I've gotten more magic back."

Lucy smiled, "I'm glad to hear that!"

"Where's Erza?" asked Gray.

"She is meeting with the master now," replied Mira.

"Gramps is back! We have news for him!" exclaimed Natsu, walking to the guild hall as we walked behind him before he burst the doors open, "We're back!"

"Lucy, did you find information?" asked Mira, as we trailed behind Natsu and Gray who had gone to the counter to ask Elfman and Lisanna for food.

Lucy nodded, "Natsu found Otto's scent. It was faint but we followed it and found an abandon prison."

"The guild hall," I said, looking up to Lucy.

She closed her eyes and nodded, "It matched your description and Natsu vaguely smelled you. We couldn't find a laboratory or any other information. It was completely empty other than this." At that, Lucy pulled out a torn, navy blue jacket from her bag.

I stopped, staring at the jacket as Mira and Lucy looked at me.

I gulped and, without taking my eyes of the jacket, answered the unasked question, "That's mine. It was mine."

Mira placed a hand on my shoulder as Lucy continued, "Natsu thought so. This is all that was left. I'm sorry Poppy. You can have it if you want."

I shook my head and took a step backwards, trying not to remember the past or overthink the situation however, I bumped into someone, hard.

I quickly turned and saw Erza-nee who wrapped an arm around me as she looked at the jacket and then to me, while I looked at her with slight tears. "It's okay Poppy. You're here now. You are safe and you have real clothes."

I nodded and took a deep breath before turning to Lucy. "I-I don't want it. But um, if it helps to keep as evidence you can, um keep it."

Lucy nodded and was about to say something before there was a slight blast of fire, burning the jacket to a crisp.

"Oi! Flame brain! Watch what you're doing!" shouted Gray, covering the ashes in ice before they dispelled to tiny, dark, crystals.

Erza gripped my shoulder tightly her head down as the atmosphere grew tense.

"Natsu. Gray." Growled Erza, releasing my shoulder and reequipping a sword out as she headed to the two boys who were now clutching each other tightly.

"Bakas!" cried Lucy, shaking her hand a bit from the sudden heat and frost and looking around, "Now we have don't have any evidence!"

"We're sorry! We're sorry! We're sorry!" whimpered the boys, begging on their knees to Erza who held her sword above their heads.

"You two need to learn to stop fighting," hissed Erza.

"Mira-san, should we stopped them?" I asked, tapping her arm as we walked to the bar, and nervously watching the trio.

Mira smiled, her eyes closing "This is Fairy Tail. It will be fine."

With that Erza's sword went down and I closed my eyes as I heard at bang.

"What are you brats up to now?!" yelled the Master as he stepped out of his office, causing everyone to stop and Erza to have her sword inches between the two, causing a slight crack on Gray's Ice Shield.

"Gramps!" shouted Natsu, looking at him in complete love as the other members stood silently and Erza to lower her sword.

"Master! Um….I was ensuring that these two are behaving and not destroying the guild hall again," answered Erza, lowering her sword and looking at the master nervously.

Master looked at the guild, at Natsu and Gray holding each other, and at Erza standing before them before chuckling, "Carry on but don't destroy anything. Got that Natsu? We have just gotten out of debt from the last time you destroyed the hall."

With that, the guild continued with their activities as the Master walked down to the bar and sat in the stool next to mine.

"How are you feeling Poppy?" asked the Master, drinking from the sake Mira brought him.

I smiled, the straw of the vanilla milkshake still in my mouth, "Better!"

"I'm glad. Wendy has told us that you have progressed tremendously the past few days of rest. I am also sensing that your magic is returning is it not?"

I nodded, "The medicine has helped a lot. I slept a lot these past few days but I have more energy now and more magic. Erza-nee thinks I'll get my magic back by the end of the week!"

The Master nodded, "It seems like it but have you considered what you eat might help restore your power?"

I looked at him confused, "Erza-nee gives me only healthy stuff. She says it's important to eat well to fight well."

Mira also joined in the conversation at this point, "And she's not eating just cake and milkshakes Master, not like Erza has before."

Master chuckled, "No, I have no doubts that you are eating well. Mira would never allow Erza to feed you junk food when you unwell. But, you are a dragon slayer are you not?"

I nodded, looking down at my milkshake remembering the past.

"Master, that's not something-"began Mira, noticing my sudden change in character before the Master held his hand and continued.

"We have three other dragon slayers in our guild and I have learned that dragon slayers seem to regain their magic ability and grow stronger by eating something of value to them."

"Gajeel! Stop eating the iron columns!" shouted Levy from the back.

"Natsu-nii! I have a new color fire for you try!" yelled Romeo.

"Do you ever eat the air in the guild Wendy?" asked Happy.

I heard all of this and widened my eyes, "Earth. I'm the Earth Dragon Slayer."

I quickly stood up, "Arigato Master!" I called as I walked quickly across the guild to go outside.

"Wait! Poppy-chan wait!" shouted Mira.

"Let her be. She will regain her magic this way," replied the Master, drinking his sake.

Mira turned to him, her aura becoming evil.

"Do you not think Wendy or Erza or I have thought about that? The traces of magic in her bound remain. If regains all her magic at once, the bound will activate once more because it will feed off her magic. We have let her heal naturally solely for the purpose of permanently removing the bound. That being in one week." Growled Mira.

The Master sweat dropped before clearing his throat, "If I have learned anything from our three dragon slayers is that their tenacity is endless." He looked towards the doors, "She can break the bound herself." Then he looked at Mira, "Though you should check on her," before running up to his office.

"Erza is going to kill him," mumbled Mira before jumping over the counter, "Elfman! Lisanna! Watch the bar for a bit! Wendy, come with me. Poppy! Poppy! Wait!" shouted Mira running out of the guild hall.

"I'm a Dragon Slayer. Gaia taught me that the Earth will always be here for me to help! Why didn't I think of this before? I can regain my magic and Erza-nee wouldn't have to worry about me anymore!" I said to myself as I walked over to the garden behind the guild.

"This seems good," I said, looking down at the soil before me before kneeling down and digging my hands in.

"Bon appetite," I said, before suck in the dirt.

"Poppy! No!" shouted Erza with Mira, Wendy, and Lucy behind her

In that moment I felt a surge of magic rush through my body and I laughed.

"Why didn't I do this earlier?" I thought, watching plants grow around me as my magic began to increase.

"Poppy! Poppy, please stop." Cried Erza, eyeing me worryingly.

"Poppy-chan! Don't use your magic anymore," said Wendy.

I turned to them, smiling, "But I feel great! Better than I have in a long time!"

"Poppy, this isn't healthy. You just need rest." Explained Mira.

Lucy gasped, "Minna, look at her wrist."

I looked down at my left wrist and saw blood seep through the bandages.

"Huh? No, my magic is mine now. Like Gaia taught me," I mumbled, my eyes widened as I slowly backed away and saw the plants around me begin to shrivel.

"Nonononononono," I mumbled, tears in my eyes as I felt pain enter my wrist and remembered everything.

"I guess I'm still weak," I thought before releasing a roar in pain.

"Poppy!" cried the others, crouching down from the explosion while Erza remained standing, one hand in front of her face.

"Poppy! Calm down! You are not there anymore. You are with me and Fairy Tail!" shouted Erza, slowly walking towards me.

"No! This is all fake! Everything is fake! My magic is not mine! I'm stuck! I belong to them!" I cried, tears leaping from my eyes as the Earth shook and my wrist continued to bleed, a magic circle appearing before it, slowly growing bright.

I kept backing away from them, ready to run away in shame but, just as I was turning, a warm hand grabbed my right arm.

"Aren't you a dragon slayer?" asked Natsu, holding my arm and looking at me with a serious expression.

"Natsu! Don't!" shouted Lucy, struggling to stay balanced.

"Are you?'" asked Natsu again, ignoring the quakes around us.

I shook my head, crying out in pain from my wrist and from fear.

"What would Gaia say to you?" asked Natsu.

"Natsu! She's in pain!" called Mira, helping Wendy up.

"Natsu-san! The magical bind is still on her! It'll take her magic soon enough!" cried Wendy.

"Don't forget what Gaia taught you and don't forget you have us for help," stated Natsu with a grin, before releasing my arm letting Erza take me in for a hug but my arms remained limp on my side.

Erza held me tight, pressing my face against her chest with one hand resting on my head as she reequipped to regular clothes from her armor.

"Poppy. Poppy, it's okay. Poppy, I'm here," comforted Erza, ignoring the magic flowing around.

I cried into her, "Erza-nee?"

"Yes Poppy. I am here."

I clutched her with one arm, "Erza-nee, make it stop!" I shouted as the pain in my wrist worsened and the ground shook harder.

"Wendy!" called Erza as she lifted me and jumped quickly to Wendy, ignoring my cries of pain.

"Ah!" I screamed, my eyes shut, the pain in my wrist worsening and I felt the magic I had regained leaving my body.

Slowly, I felt the pain leave and I laid breathing heavily in Erza's arms while Wendy healed my wrist and Mira helped unravel the magical bind from my magic.

"Natsu! Baka! What were you thinking?!" yelled Lucy and I heard her smacking Natsu.

"Ouch! Luce! What are you doing? I was just trying to help little Erza! She was going to run away and we couldn't have that can we? "responded Natsu.

"Lucy, its fine. It's not his fault. He was only trying to help," I mumbled, opening my eyes.

"See!" replied Natsu.

"Poppy! Poppy, how are you feeling?" asked Erza, looking at me in deep concern and her arms still holding me.

"My wrist…" I said, turning slightly to see Wendy and Mira bandaging my wrist with cloth torn from Erza's shirt.

"Mira-san took down the magical bind and I healed your wrist but we will need to disinfect it and bandage it again in the guild," said Wendy, looking at me.

"Is it -?" I began before I saw Mira shook her head.

"Sorry, Poppy, but your magic powered the magical bind once more. I could not break it," replied Mira, watching me with tears in her eyes.

I felt my own eyes water.

"Poppy, look at me."

I turned to meet Erza's eyes and saw her eyes determined, "Poppy, I promise that you won't have this magical bind forever. We will take down that guild and find a way to remove the bind."

"Just give it time," added Lucy, standing behind Erza, her brown eyes filled with concern and love.

Natsu stood behind her and gave me a wink before I nodded.

"I promise you Erza. I will get my magic back so you won't have to worry anymore," I thought.

"Poppy, you should rest now," said Mira, pushing some of my hair back.

I nodded before I squirmed in Erza's arms, dropping myself clumsily into the ground on my knees.

"I have to fix this mess first." I stated, looking at the destroyed garden before me. "Gaia always said that I should always clean up and find a place better than I found it," I added, glancing at Natsu who gave a slight smile.

Before they could stop me, I took a deep breath and focused my magical energy to healing the earth around me.

"Earth Dragon's Restore!" I said as the ground shifted back into place and the plants that the garden had grew larger than before.

"Heh, looks like that did help me out a bit," I mumbled, swaying tiredly before Erza caught me.

"You shouldn't have done that," responded Erza, lifting me bridal style as she stood up.

I turned to Natsu, "I'm a Dragon Slayer aren't I?"

Natsu grinned before being smacked by Lucy, "This baka gets himself into trouble that we clean up. You best not follow his lead."

"Aw come on Luce!"

"Poppy-chan isn't like you Natsu-san…" said Wendy while Lucy added, "She doesn't have a death wish everywhere she goes. She actually thinks things through!"

"I'm right here you know," I mumbled, shutting my eyes and leaned against Erza's chest.

"You guys are lucky I'm holding Poppy," stated Erza fiercely while Mira came behind her, "But I'm not"

With that, both Lucy and Natsu ran away from the guild and into the town while Wendy chuckled nervously by Erza's side.

"Arigato Mira," stated Erza gratefully as we walked past the guild.

"Wait… we aren't going to the guild," I mumbled in confusion.

Erza shook her head, "No. We are going back home. You need to rest."

"We also need to bandage your wrist again," stated Wendy.

"Don't worry Poppy. You're okay," replied Mira as I nodded and cuddled against Erza's chest, giving in to sleep.

(Note, Poppy is asleep from this point)

"Erza, she's okay," comforted Mira, walking beside Erza.

"Erza-san, none of her injures reopened other than her wrist and with proper bandages she will be better" added Wendy, "She even gained some magic back, can't you feel it?"

Erza sighed and nodded, walking towards the dormitory while looking down at her little sister, sleeping against her chest, "The bind though. I fear that is going to be in issue in the future if we do not remove it."


	15. Girls Day

**Here's the next chapter as promised since I got a review! Hope you like it!**

 _"Poppy, my sweet child, you will face a foe who will stop at nothing to bring you down. It will be painful, but Poppy, my sweet, sweet Poppy, you are not. You have never been alone. We will be here for you."_

"Gaia?" I mumbled questioningly, slowly waking up from my slumber, curling into the soft pillow under me.

My pillow moved slightly and I heard a chuckle, "Good Morning Poppy."

I moved my head a bit and opened one eye to see Erza looking down at me, seeing as I was laying on her chest.

I smiled before closing my eye and snuggling into her, her scent comforting me. I felt a hand on my head as she began to stroke my hair and another hand rested on my back.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked, her voice rumbling through her chest and into my ear.

I nodded before looking up to her, "Erza-nee?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, Poppy?" she asked, looking at me a bit worried, "Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

I looked back down and grabbed her hand, tracing the veins like I used to do as a kid.

"Poppy?" she asked once more.

"I'm not alone right? You're not annoyed that I can't use magic and that I've been keeping you away from your team and missions." I said softly, unable to meet her eyes.

She began shift and I felt her sit up, keeping me on her lap, facing her.

"Poppy," she said, lifting my chin so that brown eyes met green eyes and brushing the hair out of my face, "Poppy, you will never be alone again. I will always, always be here for you. You never annoy me Poppy. You being unable to use magic does not irritate me and it does not make you weak. In fact, it makes you stronger since you have fought hard to claim what is rightfully yours and move pass the bind that has been placed upon you. And I would much rather be here with you then go on a mission. I've been going on missions for years, to look for you, and I'll fight anyone who says I can't take a break to be with my favorite little sister and keep her out of trouble." She finished with a smile.

I laughed and hit her shoulder softly, "I'm your only little sister and I don't get in _that_ much trouble."

She chuckled, "That is because I keep you away from trouble."

I pouted, "Erza-nee's mean."

She chuckled, "I know someone who is meaner" she began, holding her hands up and her fingers twirling, "The tickle monster!"

I squealed, moving off her lap, before she grabbed me and began ticking me, "Erza-nee! Hahaha stop it! hahaha" I exclaimed in between laughs and gasps.

"Who's mean to you Red? I'll be sure to fight them off!" responded Erza, not easing her tickles.

I laughed more before I yelped in pain, "OW!"

Erza immediately stopped tickling me and sat me up while I clutched my left wrist to my chest and attempted to stop the tears from falling.

"Poppy, are you okay?" she asked, her concerned brown eyes reaching my tearful green eyes and she reached a hand to wipe the tears away.

I shook my head as I felt my wrist pulse in pain, "My wrist hurts," I whimpered to her, "I accidentally hit it on the board."

"I'm sorry Poppy. I hadn't meant to cause you pain and it slipped my mind that you are still injured."

I shook my head harder, "No Nee-san! It's not your fault!"

"Can I see your wrist?" asked Erza, holding her hand out.

I nodded and held out my hand to her, grimacing at the movement. She carefully took my wrist into her hands and I noticed the bandages had begun to change to a red color.

After a glance, Erza wordlessly reequipped from her pajamas into regular clothes before picking me up and taking me away from the room, into the hall. We passed our four doors before she kicked down a door and took me inside the room, startling Wendy, Charle, and Mira who were sitting at a dining table eating breakfast.

"Erza-san!" cried Wendy, looking up in confusion.

"You could have knocked first," stated Charle in disgust.

"Erza! Poppy! What's wrong?" asked Mira, quickly standing up.

Erza quickly strode to the table and sat me down on an empty space on top of the table, her hand carefully reaching for my wrist before showing it to the others.

"Poppy's wound has reopened whether it occurred sometime during the night or this morning, I am unsure."

"Do you think she has lost a lot of blood?" asked Charle, standing on her seat and looking over to my wrist where Mira had begun to unravel the bandages.

"Are you feeling dizzy Poppy-chan?" asked Wendy, standing next to Mira and looking at my eyes.

I shook my head slightly, looking at her before looking down at my wrist which I had not seen since the incident with Otto, my head swirling at the image and instantly I felt nauseous.

"Now I am," I mumbled, looking away from my wrist and promptly closing my mouth as a precaution.

Erza, noticing my slightly green appearance, turned away from the two and blocked my view of them and my wrist, her hand brushing the hair out of my face.

"Need a bucket?" asked Erza.

I shook my head and leaned to her touch, "No, I'm fine."

"Erza-san? Poppy-chan?" asked Wendy, causing Erza to turn around to face her and allowing me to see them but keeping my view of my wrist hidden.

"Yes Wendy?" asked Erza.

"I would like to heal the wound a bit, to try and close it before applying new bandages."

"But wouldn't magic activate the bind?" asked Erza.

Mira answered for Wendy, "There is a slight chance but, Erza, if the wound keeps opening up, Poppy could get an infection and it would take longer to heal. I think Poppy has enough magic power from yesterday that she should be able to fight off the bind while Wendy heals her wrist."

The three looked at each other before I added, "I'll do it. I can fight it off for Wendy to heal me."

Erza looked at me cautiously, "Are you sure Poppy? You do not have to if you do not want to."

I nodded, "Yes. I want to do this. I want it to stop hurting."

Erza nodded slightly before saying, "Alright, let's do this quickly before I change my mind."

"Hei!" said Wendy her hands going on my wrist and I felt the pain disappear from my wrist, replaced by soothing feelings.

"Mmmm" I moaned, smiling at the relief of finally not feeling my wrist.

"You're doing good Poppy," said Mira, "Wendy is halfway done."

"Okay," I whispered, content before I felt the bind activated, "Not okay" I quickly corrected.

"Wendy is almost done Poppy. Hold on for a bit longer," stated Mira, watching Wendy work who was determined to finish quickly.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no" I stated, fighting the bind and the memories that instantly clouded my mind.

"Hey Poppy. It's okay. I'm right here," said Erza, her hands holding my shoulders and her brown eyes meeting mine, taking me away from the bad memories and into the good ones.

 _"Er-nee!" I whimpered, standing behind her and nervously trying to get her attention._

 _She turned around and smiled at me before her smile fell and she kneeled in front of me._

 _"What's wrong Red?" she asked worryingly, "You should be sleeping right now. Did you have a nightmare?"_

 _I nodded, looking down at my feet, "Scawy."_

 _Erza picked me and I looped my arms around her neck, my face pressed to her shoulder. She brought me into her room and set me on her bed as she quickly changed to pajamas. Seeing as I was 2 and she was 8, I had an earlier bedtime than her and would be asleep before she went to bed._

 _Once done, she went into her bed and opened the covers for me. I crawled next to her before she set the covers down and held me in her arms. The dark suddenly not as scary with Erza by me._

 _"You can sleep now Poppy. It's okay. I'm right here," she whispered and I fell asleep with a smile on my face, knowing my big sister would be right there beside me._

"Er-nee" I whispered, using my old nickname for her when I could not pronounce her name.

Erza smiled and I saw a tear leave her eye, "Yes, Red. I'm here."

At that, Wendy finished her work and I felt the calm leaving me along with the tugging of the bind. My wrist felt relax and Mira quickly bandage it once more.

"There you go Poppy-chan! I healed it as much as I could without activating the bind. It shouldn't open again but you'll still need bandages for a while until we can fully disable your bind and your wrist can heal completely," stated Wendy, smiling at me.

"So my wrist won't be better until the bind is gone?" I asked confused.

Mira nodded, having finished wrapping my wrist and cleaning the supplies up, "Unfortunately it seems that the shackles used to hold you and take away your magic also made it impossible to completely heal while the bind is on. The only options are to release you from the bind or reverse the magic on the shackles and then placing them on you. Whoever came up with this magic made it so that you would have to return to them."

"Which will never happen," added Erza, clutching her hands into fists, "We will remove the bind ourselves and crush this guild before you have to see them again."

Mira, Wendy, and Charle nodded in agreement and even I had to nod a bit. "Yeah!"

"Thank you both for your help," stated Erza, bowing slightly and I slid down off the table to stand next to her, "Arigato!" I chimed in.

"Of course Erza-san and Poppy-chan! I'll do anything I can to help you!" replied Wendy.

"Nakama help each other after all," chimed Mira, smiling.

Erza smiled that and wrapped an arm around me, "We better be going. We have yet to eat breakfast and Poppy is still in her pajamas. Plus, her hair is a mess," she added, ruffling my hair.

"It's because of you," I answered, sticking my tongue at her which only made her ruffle my hair more.

"Do you have any plans for the day?" asked Mira.

I shook my head and looked to Erza but then to Wendy who spoke before Erza could respond.

"Why don't we go to the baths today? We can take a day to relax and enjoy ourselves."

Erza nodded, "That sounds like a lovely idea. Poppy and I will go eat breakfast and then head over. We can meet in an hour with the rest of the girls."

We spoke a bit more before excusing ourselves to get ready for the day and to allow them to gather the others. Once back in our home, I quickly went to my room to change clothes and brush my hair as Erza prepared breakfast. Though many believe that Erza cannot cook without burning the building down, she knows how to use pans and hot plates well enough and makes amazing pancakes. She often makes strawberry pancakes for herself and vanilla pancakes for me.

We had a nice, quiet breakfast together. We talked about Erza taking cooking lessons to learn new skills and how she will continue my education a bit along with some guild mates. The hour soon passed and I helped Erza-nee wash the dishes before brushing my teeth and grabbing my things to head to the baths. As we walked, Erza pointed out the different rooms in the dorm and the different landmarks in the area. Shortly after, we arrived in the bath and I found my wrist wrapped in plastic, curtesy of Erza-nee before we entered the baths and joined the others.

"Hi!" I stated, entering the pink, warm bath and greeting Mira, Wendy, Levy, Lucy, Evergreen, Bisca, Cana, and Juvia.

"Hey Poppy-chan, how are you feeling?" asked Lucy, who was sitting between Levy and Cana on my opposite side.

"Good!" I replied, as Erza took the seat to my right.

"Wendy was telling us that she was able to heal you more this morning without activating your bind; has that been okay?" asked Levy.

"Yup!" I replied quickly, a bit tired of people asking on how I'm feeling and not wanting all the attention.

Cana noticed this. "Why don't we leave the squirt alone and talk about the real gossip. Such as who's interested in who? Any luck Lucy with your crush?"

Lucy immediately blushed, "I don't have anyone."

Cana laughed and reached for Lucy's boobs, "Sure you do! With these around, you must have hundreds of guys coming for you!"

"CANA!" shouted Lucy, smacking her before moving to my left side.

"Size doesn't always matter Cana," added Levy, a bit embarrassed while Wendy nodded in agreement.

"Besides, looks are also important and I am the best looking one here," stated Evergreen, flipping her hair back as to prove a point.

"Elfman thinks so," mumbled Cana.

Mira squealed, "Your kids would be so cute!"

Evergreen blushed and attempted to change the conversation, "What about you and Gajeel, Levy? You two have been spending a lot of time together."

"Ano?! There's nothing going on between the two of us!" stated Levy, splashing the water around and backing against the wall.

"Right…Just like there is nothing going on between Natsu and Lucy," stated Cana, causing Lucy to squeal as well and shake her head furiously.

"Natsu- that baka- enters my apartment without asking! We are just partners and best friends!"

I laughed as the girls bounced romantic ideas back and forth, continuously blushing and pointing out someone else, to the point of pointing out each other.

"Well, if it's not Natsu or Gray, then you must love Erza then," said Mira as Levy added, "Yes! You did call her beautiful when you met her!"

At this, I saw Erza smirk and blush while Lucy stumbled for words that would not lead her to feel Erza's wrath. I turned to Lucy, putting up my best puppy eyes.

"If you marry her, will you become my nee-san?" I asked, trying to sound as young as possible.

Lucy turned the color of Erza's hair as everywhere awed and I began laughing. "Gotcha Lucy-san!"

She slowly came out of her shock as I splashed water towards her, "Besides, you only have eyes for Natsu-san! Why else would you let him stay in your apartment?"

Lucy blushed once more before quickly grabbing my head and dunking it under the water for a few seconds, "You little-! It's not like that!"

"My hair!" yelled Evergreen, "You'll pay for that Lucy!"

"Don't you dare involve Poppy in that attack Ever," growled Erza.

"Oh my," giggled Mira, seeing as a battle had begun in the tub between the girls.

"Even the girls are not civilized," stated Carla.

Wendy giggled, "This is Fairy Tail!"

I sat there laughing, avoiding Lucy's attempts to strangle me and Erza's attempts to escape with me.

"This is your home Poppy-chan. And your family" whisper Mira behind me, smiling.

I nodded, smiling wide, "Yes!"


	16. A Day with Lucy

**Hello Minna! Here's the next update! Thank you for your reviews! I'm sorry if it seems slow now but I really want to develop a relationship among the characters before the next bit. However, in a few chapter: the drama begins.**

 **Enjoy and let me know what you think! Arigato!**

"Poppy! Are you ready to go the guild today?" called Erza from her room.

I sat up from my bean bag putting a book Levy recommended down and rushed to her, knocking her down and hugging her.

"Ooof," exhaled Erza, chuckling slightly and running her hands through my hair as I laid on top of her, "You are lucky I heard you and reequipped out of my armor to normal clothes. You could have been hurt otherwise."

I looked up to her before siting up and away from her, remembering that I had been hurt before.

Erza leaned on an arm before lifting my chin to meet her eyes, "Poppy, I will never hurt you. I'm sorry you were hurt but, now that you are here, I will protect you. That's what nee-san's do."

I nodded before leaping and hugging her, knocking her down again and causing her to chuckle, "You're pretty strong Red."

I giggled before sitting up and looking at her eyes, "You have always protected me Erza-nee. Sometimes, life is crazy and I might get hurt. It'd be weird if I never got hurt! But I know nothing bad will ever happen when I'm with you!" I smiled and she smiled back, before poking me.

"When did you get so smart?"

I laughed, "Way before you did!"

Erza raised an eyebrow, "Is that so? May I remind you who was the youngest S-Class mage in Fairy Tail?"

I sighed, "You."

She smirked, "That's right." Erza stood up and ruffled my hair, causing me to pout, "Now then, are you ready to go the guild?"

I instantly nodded before jumping up and giving her another hug.

"You're quite the hugger today. Is everything okay?" she stated, running her fingers through my hair and fixing the mess she had created a moment ago.

I nodded into her stomach before letting go. "Let's go to the guild!"

Erza looked at me for a moment before ruffling my hair again and nodding, "Let's go."

She walked out of our room and I quickly followed after her, attempting to fix my hair, mumbling "That's mean Erza-nee."

"Did you say something about me?" Erza asked, looking back at me as she reequipped into her daily armor.

"You're a meanie," I responded sticking my tongue at her before catching up to her and grabbing her hand to hold. Erza looked surprised by the action for a second before ignoring it and replying to my comment, "It's easy to mess up your hair. Besides, you look so kawaii when you pout after I'm sure Mira will be all over you."

I pouted angrily, "I'm not a little kid so not everything I do has to be cute. I'm 10 years old! I'm practically an adult and I _am_ a mage after all."

"Ah, you are. You a mage of Fairy Tail, the strongest guild in Fiore but you are the youngest member and still a child. And you are pretty cute."

"Hmf." I stated, not having a reply. Erza chuckled and we continued to walk together in silence. The citizens of Magnolia would wave and Erza would wave back, smiling and wishing them a good day. I smiled shyly but held on to Erza's hand tight, unsure of how to act.

Every once in a while, we would stop as someone thanked Erza for her last mission success or for helping them out with a favor. I would stand slightly behind Erza and watch their interactions before they asked who I was.

"I'm Poppy," I'd say before Erza would explain that I am her younger sister and a new Fairy Tail member. They would then congratulate me and we would continue on.

"See, I'm not the only one who says you are kawaii. The citizens here also agree," stated Erza as we walked away from a woman who had thanked Erza for rebuilding her garden house after it had burned down.

I sighed, "I guess."

"Ne, Er-nee?" I asked, looking down at the ground and kicking a pebble on the road.

"Yes, Poppy?"

"You work a lot right?"

"I do."

"And everyone has said that you are the strongest member of Fairy Tail…."

"Every member is strong in their own way."

"Do you…do you think you can train me? I want to be strong like you…" I asked.

Erza took my hand out of hers before pulling me into a sideways hug, being wary that I don't hit her armor, "Of course Poppy! As your training activity, we will race to the guild." She ruffled my hair before taking off, the guild being a block away.

"No fair!" I yelled, running after her, my hair instantly flowing behind me.

She pushed the doors to the guild open, arriving moments before I did and I slid in as the doors were closing.

I looked and saw Erza causally sitting at the bar with a strawberry cake in front of her before walking up and taking a seat beside her.

"That…was…unfair…" I huffed in between breaths as I stared at Erza who shrugged.

"My my my, what has you all worked up?" asked Mira as she slid a glass of water and vanilla ice cream in front of me.

"Erza-nee and I had a race here but she cheated," I answered, reaching for the water to drink.

Mira giggled, "That's Erza for you."

"It was a test to see how quickly she can respond given that Poppy wants to start training," added Erza, fixing my hair once more, "She did a pretty good job."

I smiled at the praise before eating my ice cream.

"Ano…" stammered Wendy quietly behind us. Erza and I turned to see Porylscia next to Wendy. "Porlysica-san is here to check up on Poppy-chan."

"After hearing about her wrist yesterday, I want to make sure Poppy has recovered properly and does not have any hidden binds we should know about. I could not check last time I saw her given that much magic was used to heal her."

Erza nodded, "Arigato Porlysia-san."

"Ano," I looked to Porlysia nervously, "Does this mean I can't train with Erza-nee?"

"We will see how the check-up goes. Let's go to the infirmary for some privacy from these idiots who are sure to start a fight soon enough." Porlysia turned and waked towards the infirmary with Wendy by her side, asking medical advice.

"Come on Poppy. It's alright. We can still train, just maybe not with magic," stated Erza, standing and nudging me off my stool.

"I didn't even get to finish my ice cream," I mumbled, following her.

Erza chuckled, opening the door to the infirmary, "I am sure Mira will give you more later in the day, after you eat a proper meal."

"I did have breakfast this morning. With you," I responded, taking a seat on the bed I had designated as mine given the amount of times I had visited the infirmary.

"I do hope you have fed her properly Erza, as we discussed," stated Porlysia glancing at Erza as she nudged me to lie down in order to perform a magical diagnostic.

"She has!" I spoke, needing to defend Erza-nee who stammered at Porlysia's glare, "We ate a traditional western breakfast this morning!"

"Tch. Stay quiet so I can properly look at you."

I closed my mouth and pouted before relaxing and closing my eyes, her magic calming me down.

"Good job healing her wrist Wendy," stated Porlysia, "It seems that you will need to do it again once a week in an effort to weaken the bind and prevent her from receiving an infection, given her weakened immune system."

I felt Porlysia's magic traveling from my wrist to the rest of my body, causing me to stiffen before relaxing.

"Porlysia-san, what do you mean by her weakened immune system? Is the bind causing more problems?" asked Erza, her voice coming from the right of me as I felt her hand brush my hair back.

Porlysia's magic stopped and I opened my eyes to look at her.

"This bind she has is an ancient dark magic, much more than I originally believed. Not only does the bind remove her magic when activated but it weakens her immune system to prevent complete healing. However, the bind keeps her alive as long as she is under it. She can only fully recover once the bind is removed."

I closed my eyes after hearing that, hoping that was the end though Erza's quick shift next to me caused me to open my eyes once more. I caught Porlysia giving a quick nod to Erza before turning to Wendy, who remained at the foot of the bed.

"You and I can gather herbs to make more medicine for her to take to prevent illness from falling upon her."

Wendy nodded, "Hei!"

Porlysia turned to me once more, "As you are one of the brats in this infuriating guild, I'm sure you will continue to find yourself in some trouble. I won't even try stopping you. However, I'd prefer not to come here for a while."

"You will continue to take medicine every day to strengthen your immune system and prevent what we can. Rebandage your wrist once a day and Wendy will heal it once a week. You can use magic but as do not be like the idiots in the guild and overdo it. Preferably, use as little magic as possible. You can train so long as you don't feel ill. If you feel odd, stop and rest. I do not know the full scope of the bind and one of the brats can research more about its effects."

"I ask that you contact me should something change in the healing of your wrist or if you begin to feel differently so that I can check on you."

I nodded and Erza stood up and bowed to thank her. I followed suit and stood up as well, "Arigato Porlysia-san!"

I heard her with my sensitive ears mumble under her breath "It's a pity for this to happen to someone so young" before she spoke up, "That is all. There is nothing else we can do until the bind is removed." She motioned to Wendy "Let's go prepare the medicine now."

Wendy nodded and with that the two left the room.

Erza looked at me before ruffling my hair, "I have to go speak to Porlysia for a minute to tell her how much medicine we have left. Why don't you go to the bar with Mira and order that ice cream?"

I could tell Erza was lying and wanted to speak to Porlysia for something else, given that I caught the nod between the two of them but decided to go along with faking innocence, "Sure Erza-nee!"

I walked towards the bar, keeping an eye on Erza as she walked towards the Master's office where Porlysia and the Master stood waiting. I looked around and began sneaking up the stairs to listen in to the conversation.

"Porlysia, there's more to the bind than you told Poppy. Can you fill us in as to the power of the bind?" I heard Master ask, Erza humming in her agreement and I could picture her standing with her arms crossed and nodding.

Porlysia sighed, "That bind is an ancient dark magic used by dark wizards to control their enemies and enslave workers. It can keep their victims of life, but just barely. However, to be used on a child is unimaginable and was never done because-"

"Mini-Erza! What are you doing?" asked Natsu behind me, making me jump to the ground.

"She looks like she's sneaking around!" exclaimed Happy, flying by my face.

I immediately put my finger to his mouth to quiet him down and stood up, "I'm…Exploring the guild!"

"But you were just standing here doing nothing!" replied Happy.

I looked around me to find some excuse to not get caught and keep them from making noise to alert Erza before Natsu jumped in,

"Well, if you wanted to explore why didn't you just say so?! Come on! I'll show you around!" said Natsu, grabbing my hand and dragging me along with him around the guild.

"You've already been at the bar and the infirmary. Up those stairs is for S Class mages only. We were there once on a mission with Team Natsu."

"Aye! We sneaked a request and went on an S Class mission even though we aren't S Class mages yet!" added Happy.

Natsu nodded in agreement before continuing on "The library is down these stairs but I never go down there since it's boring." He dragged me in front of a giant board, "And this is the mission request board where you can pick a mission to go on."

"Natsu! You better not be dragging Poppy-chan on a mission with you!" yelled Lucy, looking at Natsu angrily and placing her hand on my shoulder as a warning to him. "You know Erza AND Mira would kill you and I wouldn't help you."

Natsu shook his head furiously, "No way! I know better than that! Mini Erza wanted to explore so I'm showing her around the guild."

Lucy nodded, a bit surprised, "Well, that's nice of you Natsu!"

Natsu smiled, "Now, mini-Erza! Do you want to fight?"

Lucy smacked him to the board before leading me with her, mumbling under her breath, "That baka will never learn."

"Ano, Lucy where are we going?" I asked, noticing that we were walking out of the guild. She let go of my shoulder before smiling down at me, "I noticed you were sneaking around trying to listen into Erza's conversation so I decided I would take you out and show you the city more to leave their conversation in peace. Don't worry, Mira will let Erza know that you are with me."

I blushed red, my face matching my hair. "Was I that obvious?"

Lucy chucked before pulling in for a side hug, her arm wrapping around my shoulder as we walked, "My teammate is Natsu and he has done the same thing before so I expected it. Especially after you didn't come back to the bar for more ice cream."

"Whoops. I didn't think it through properly."

"Nope. Now, why don't we explore the town more and maybe get Cancer to do your hair since…it's a bit…messy," stated Lucy, brushing my hair back.

"Blame Erza-nee…" I mumbled, bringing a hand up to smooth down my hair and reaching for her hand to hold with my other hand. Lucy glanced down at this but just smiled and continued walking.

We visited store after store with Lucy telling me the stories of what her team has gotten in trouble for in the stores. Lucy bought us ice cream before we sat down at the park and Lucy told me of how Natsu once took a tree out for her when she was ill during the Blossom Festival.

"Ne, do you like Natsu-san then?" I asked curiously, taking a lick of my vanilla ice cream.

Lucy blushed, "We're teammates and best friends! He's the one that brought me to the guild."

"You likkkkeeee him," I responded, rolling my tongue like Happy.

Lucy blushed deeper, "I do not! He's my friend!" She stood up and held out her hand to me, "It's getting late. Why don't we go to my apartment and have some dinner?"

I nodded, eating the rest of my ice cream and wiping my hands on my pants before accepting her hand and standing beside her.

"Is something going on that you've been distracting me all day away from Erza-nee?" I asked, avoiding Lucy's eyes as I swung our hands back in forth.

Lucy stopped swinging our hands and looked at me, "What makes you think that Poppy-chan?"

I pointed to my left wrist which was right above her hand, "Because Erza-nee has been quite protective me with this bind and I haven't seen her since she went to speak with Porlysia-san even though she said it would be a minute."

Lucy sighed and led me into her apartment, letting go of my hand as I sat at her table as she took ingredients out of her fridge. "Master needed Erza to go to the council after her meeting with Porlysia-san but Erza didn't know about it so she couldn't tell you earlier. I offered to spend the day with you since we haven't spent much time together yet. I hope you don't mind and that you had fun…"

I nodded eagerly, "It was a great day! I had lots of fun Lucy-san!" I looked down at the table, "I just miss my Erza-nee…"

"Oh Poppy-chan!" said Lucy, coming over and giving me a hug, "Erza will be here soon enough. Mira-san should have told her that you would be with me and she will come straight here after her business with the council. She will never leave you behind."

I nodded and hugged her tightly before letting go and wipe my eyes, "I feel like such a baby for missing her even though I saw her today."

Lucy brushed my hair, "There is nothing wrong with missing your sister Poppy-chan. You haven't seen her in years after all. I know I miss my mama every day and I would be the same way if she came back."

"I'm sorry Lucy-san," I mumbled, remembering that Lucy had it worse from me from what she had told me when I first met her.

"Don't be. It's okay Poppy-chan" Lucy brushed my hair once more before standing up and holding her hand out, "Now why don't we go clean out your wound so Erza won't have my head and get started on that dinner. I'll have Cancer work on your hair while I change your bandages."

I nodded, jumping up. "As long he makes it so that Erza-nee can't keep messing up my hair…"

Lucy laughed, "I'm sure he can."

"Have you never heard of knocking?!" hissed Lucy from the couch at Erza as Erza broke the front door and walked in, placing the door behind her crookedly.

"Yes, but I felt it would be insufficient as it is late and I was unsure if you were awake," responded Erza, "Where's Poppy?"

"I'm surprised she didn't wake up with that…" mumbled Lucy before pointing down at her lap, where Poppy was sleeping under a fuzzy pink blanket. "She started falling asleep when Cancer was doing her hair and barely made it through dinner before I brought her to the couch where she instantly fell asleep."

Erza smiled, reequipping from her armor into her normal clothes. "I'm guessing she had a long day with you. You did remember her medicine, right?"

"Of course I did! I think that's what made her fall asleep so easily. We also spent most of the day going around the town which must have taken more out of her than she realized."

Erza nodded in agreement, "It was her first full day without any naps."

"Well, she did great. She really missed you though," stated Lucy, brushing back Poppy's hair as she slept.

Erza frowned slightly, moving towards Poppy and slowly lifting her up into her arms, bridal style, smiling slightly when she saw Poppy snuggle closer to her. "Was she okay?"

Lucy stood up and stretched. "Yes, it seemed like it. She was a bit more…nervous without you and she kept calling your name when she first fell asleep but she stopped shortly after I sat with her."

Erza sighed, "She still has nightmares. No matter what I do, I can't help her when she's sleeping."

"Did Porlysia mention anything?"

With that, Erza grimaced and she held Poppy tighter, "Yes." Her voice cracked slightly, "I failed her Lucy… I didn't protect her… And if I can't get this bind off of her…"

Lucy put her hand on her friend's shoulder, noticing the tears threatening to fall from her friend's eye and ignoring her own fears, "You did the best you could Erza. No one could have known that that would have happened. And you will get that bind of off her and live happily with her and us. You're not in it alone Erza. All of Fairy Tail will fight for Poppy."

Erza nodded, swallowing her sorrow, "You're right Lucy. Arigato. And thank you for watching Poppy today."

Lucy smiled and gave Erza a hug, minding Poppy in between them, "That's what Nakama are for!"

"I'll come fix your door tomorrow," said Erza, looking back to Lucy as she walked back to towards Fairy Hill to go home.

"You better!" called Lucy, waving them off and attempting to place her door back, "Good night Erza!"

"Good night Lucy" replied Erza, before turning the corner and looking down at Poppy, who shifted slightly in her arms. "It seems like you've already gotten a head start to the night Red."

She moved Red to be carried front piggyback style with Poppy's legs wrapped around Erza's waist and her head resting on Erza's right shoulder.

"Er-nee?" whispered Poppy tiredly into Erza's ear as Erza opened the door to their apartment.

"Hm?" hummed Erza, carefully changing Poppy's clothes to pajamas without disturbing her semi-awake sister and tucking Poppy into the bed they've shared due to Poppy's nightmares.

"I love you," whispered Poppy, opening her eyes to meet Erza's. Erza reequipped to her pajamas and joined her sister in bed, opening her arms as her sister snuggled into her, Poppy's breaths evening. Erza kissed her sister's forehead before resting her head above Poppy's ahead.

"I love you too Poppy. Forever and always."


	17. Training

**Wow. It's been a while since I've updated. Here's the next chapter! This is dedicated to grither55- I hope you're doing well!**

"How did you win?!" I called out, looking at Erza sitting at the bar of the guild, chatting with Mira as I stomped towards her panting.

Erza looked up and smiled, "I am just fast."

I pulled myself up to the chair next to her and slumped over the bar, mumbling "You cheated. There is no way you won fairly."

Mira handed me a glass of water and a plate of pancakes, "Erza is one of our strongest mages Poppy-chan."

I glared at her and Erza before taking a bite of my food, "But I'm fast."

Erza chuckled and reached over to ruffle my hair, causing me to glare at her more and stick my tongue at her, "But I'm faster."

I shook my head, a bit irritated. "No! You cheated! I'm fast. Super-fast. I had to be."

At that, I pushed my half eaten plate forward and hopped off the stool, not wanting to discuss anything further.

"Poppy!" called Erza, instantly wanting to follow me but I heard Mira stop her and whisper, "Let her go. She needs a minute."

I stomped out of the guild and went to the back gardens where a training field had been set up. No one was out there yet so I walked up to the first training dummy and began hitting it – just like I was taught.

 _"Don't tell Violet I brought you here, alright Poppy-chan? I don't think she'll be too happy but I thought I would show you a few moves to start your training."_

 _I jumped up and down before giving Hana a hug "Arigato Hana-san! I won't tell her anything!"_

 _Hana ruffled my hair before directing me towards a training dummy. First thing first, you have to learn how to properly fight. Proper punches and kicks will go a long way. A bad mage is one that solely depends on their magic and doesn't also train their body."_

 _I nodded, "That's why Violet-nee makes Kagy work out every day before she uses any magic."_

 _Hana chuckled, "That's right squirt. Now, here's how you throw a punch correctly…"_

I punched the dummy over and over, ignoring the sweat rolling down my face.

 _"Gaia-san! I know how to hit and kick. Why don't you teach me something cool?" I complained, looking up to Gaia and pouting._

 _She scoffed and used one claw to knock me over. "I can still knock you down."_

 _I glared at her before standing up and holding on to her paw, causing her to bring me up to her eyes._

 _"You're a dragon! I'm a kid! You're big and I'm small! That's why you can knock me down so easily."_

 _"And you are a dragon slayer. Not just any Dragon Slayer but the daughter of the Earth Dragon which means you, like a tree, should be able to plant your roots and stay strong."_

 _"Now then, show me what you have little one."_

 _I nodded before jumping off her paw and looking at the boulder before me._

 _"I will make you proud Kaa-san," I said, kicking the boulder and causing it to disappear into a pile of dust._

I kicked the dummy down, ignoring the tears running down my face and moved to the next dummy, throwing more punches.

 _"Power child. You need to increase your power so that we can use it and change the world," stated Midnight, watching me take down the wood dummies in front of me with ease._

 _I shook my head, "No, I just want my Erza-nee or Violet-nee or Hana-san or Kagura or Gaia-san. I just want to go home."_

 _I looked at her as I finished off the last dummy._

 _Midnight chuckled, causing me to flinch away from her, "You are home here. They all left you. We saved you and cared for you."_

 _I shook my head angrily and fearfully, "No….you took me away from them! They…they still want me! They love me…"_

 _Midnight laughed more, coming near me, "If they loved you, why didn't they watch you? Why did Gaia leave you alone in the forest? Why didn't anyone look for you? Face it child. You are alone. You belong to us now. We are all you have left."_

 _I shook my head, blinking away the tears before running away from her towards the exit of the training room, "No. No. No."_

 _Midnight just laughed more, "Run all you want little one. You can never outrun us."_

 _At that, the training room rotated, the exit blocked by steel dummies and Midnight allowed a minion to come fight._

 _"Try and fight," he smirked, hands up and sparking._

At that, I punched the ground, causing all the dummies to crumble to dust and felt myself kneel. I panted for air and let the tears fall from my eyes.

"Why can't I be good enough?" I whispered to myself, my hands deep in the ground as I thought of everyone who had left me and all the times I lost because I was weak.

"You are. You've just had some unfair situations that are hard to deal with alone," said Natsu from behind me.

"Natsu-san!" I exclaimed, standing up to face him and wiping the tears from my eyes, "I…um…did you hear?"

Natsu pointed to his ears, "Dragon-slayer."

I nodded, "Right. I'm sorry Natsu-san. I've been keeping you away from missions with the team and now I destroyed the training ground and you had to see me cry like a baby and-"

Natsu stopped me as he gave me a hug. He felt warm…like a dragon….and I stood there eyes wide and shocked. He had knelt down so that my head rest on his shoulder.

"I know how hard it is to be alone. I was like that when Igneel left. But you're not alone anymore. You have your sister and the team and Fairy Tail and 3 older dragon slayer siblings!" he stated letting me go and grinning.

I nodded and grinned back, "I guess I do!" before I looked at the training ground, "But now we don't have a place to train…"

Natsu smirked, "This is Fairy Tail. It happens all the time. Gramps will get it fix by tomorrow morning. You're really strong Poppy!"

I blushed, "Not really… You're stronger Natsu-san!"

"I don't know about that… You're definitely stronger than I was when I was your age."

I looked up to Natsu, "Ne…Natsu?"

He looked down at me curiously, "Yeah mini-Erza?"

"Can…can you train me? I want to be strong, like Erza-nee and you and Gray-san and Lucy-san," I said.

Natsu grinned and nodded, "Yes! I've always wanted to fight you!"

I looked at him like he was crazy as he got in a fighting pose.

"Natsu-san?"

Natsu looked at me, not dropping his hands, "What are you waiting for?! Let's fight!" With that he threw a punch at me which I instantly blocked and we began to fight. He would block my kicks and I would block his punches. Every once in a while, we would both get a hit in but neither of us relented and we ended up knocking down a few trees during a scuffle. We didn't stop until we heard Lucy calling our names and we glanced over.

"Oi! Lucy! What's up?" asked Natsu, trying to pull me off his back as I had just climbed on him.

"Are you two fighting?!" she yelled, coming closer looking a bit angry.

I quickly shook my head, "No Lucy-san! Natsu is training me!"

Natsu added in agreement, "We're just training. Mini-Erza is pretty strong."

I blushed and playfully hit Natsu's shoulder, "Natsu-san's just being nice. I'm not that strong."

"To hell you are! You had me on edge the entire time!"

I chuckled and leaned on Natsu's shoulder, relaxing as he seemed to have no problem holding me.

Lucy looked between the two of us before smiling, "I'm glad you two had fun but you have destroyed the training grounds and the trees around."

"Mini-Erza was the one that destroyed the training grounds!" exclaimed Natsu, causing me to blush and look down sheepishly.

"I… I didn't mean to! It just…happened… I can fix the trees though!" I said, wiggling off of Natsu's back and instantly using my magic to bring the trees to their proper positions.

I swayed a tad, but kept standing, turning around to face Lucy.

"Tada! Fixed."

Lucy frowned slightly, looking at me carefully, "You're exhausted. You need to rest and to take the medicine. Come on, Mira, Erza, and Wendy are waiting for you."

Both Lucy and Natsu began to walk forward and I tried to follow but I was tired and hungry. I walked slowly, barely taking one step for their three steps and they were halfway back to the guild before they turned around looking at me.

Lucy's smile turned into a frown and she quickly jogged over to me, Natsu on her tail.

"Poppy, are you okay?" asked Lucy, holding my shoulder.

I nodded, "Yes! Just…really tired…I didn't realize it 'til now…But… I'm exhausted…I want to sleep…"

"Shoot! I knew you two overdid it! And you haven't eaten much!" said Lucy, brushing my hair back as I kept blinking to stay awake.

"Well, we can't have a sleeping and hungry dragon on us, can we? Up you go!" stated Natsu, lifting me up like a sack of potatoes over his right shoulder.

"Natsu-san!" I yelled, feeling more awake as I bounced on his shoulder.

Lucy just laughed and walked beside him, "At least he's getting you into the guild Poppy-chan."

I frowned and crossed my arms which looked ridiculous and only caused Lucy to laugh more as she opened the door and Natsu carried me into the hall.

"Natsu! Why are you holding mini-Erza like that?" asked Happy, flying above my head and chuckling.

"Natsu-san! What are you doing to Poppy-chan?!" exclaimed Wendy, walking towards us as Natsu quickly set me down on a seat on a table.

"She was too tired to walk so I carried her here!" replied Natsu, grinning.

"Oh my! You two are quite the mess!" exclaimed Mira, carrying trays of food to us and handing me my medicine.

"Natsu…" growled Erza, coming up behind us.

I, as quickly as I could stumbled in front of Natsu and wrapped my arms around Erza's waist.

"Natsu didn't do anything! I asked him to train with me and we lost track of time! Don't be mad at him Erza-nee!"

I felt Erza's anger subside, knowing she couldn't be angry….Especially when I looked at her with my puppy dog eyes. She sighed and brushed my hair back, "You're a mess."

I grinned before sitting back down next to Natsu who had hidden slightly behind Lucy.

"Itadakimas!" I stated, before grabbing the food in front of me, eating much like Natsu was just more lady like.

I felt Erza stand behind me as she put my hair in a ponytail before she sat down on my right side with Lucy, Wendy, and Mira sitting on the opposite side of the table.

Erza and Lucy began a conversation as well as Wendy and Mira. Happy was trying to charm Charle. Gray soon joined and began to tease Natsu, challenging him to another food contest while I finished up eating and was just sipping at my glass of water.

"Poppy, can I speak to you for a moment?" asked the Master behind me, startling me.

I nodded, "Y-yes."

Erza looked as I left the table, "Master, I hope this doesn't take long. Poppy needs to rest."

Master waved his arm, "It won't take long."

I followed Master to his office, nervousness of speaking to him keeping sleep at bay.

"Sit, Poppy," he said, gesturing to a leather chair across his desk. I sat down, stiff as a board.

"You do not have to worry. You can relax. I just want to know how you are doing," stated the Master, leaning back against his chair and smiling at me.

I looked surprised and began to swing my legs back and forth on the chair. "Oh. Um, I'm good! I'm happy to be back with Erza-nee! And Lucy! Mira-san and Wendy-chan and Natsu-san are all so nice! So it everyone else in the guild!"

Master nodded, "They're all rambunctious but good kids."

I hummed in agreement.

Master sighed and then leaned forward, causing me to gulp- the last master I had known having hurt me.

"I saw you training today…" Master began.

At that, I stood up, "Master gomen nasi! I didn't mean to destroy the training grounds I promise it won't happen again! I'll even fix it for you. Please don't make me leave. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I cried out, crouching down on the ground and beginning to cry.

Master looked at me in shock, "Poppy…It's okay. You aren't in trouble…I wanted to congratulate you…Poppy?"

I could hear the Master speaking to me but my brain couldn't process it. I was exhausted from training and from the medicine that I couldn't stop remembering all the times I got in trouble with Kumori, the master of the dark guild that took me away.

I heard the door slam open before being picked up by a warm being. "Hey, Poppy. It's okay." Said a deep voice.

"Natsu- what in the- POPPY!" exclaimed Lucy, "Master what happened?!"

"Poppy?! Poppy! Are you okay?!" I felt myself being transferred to soft, strong arms. Arms I had known my entire life.

"Poppy-chan!" exclaimed Wendy followed by a gasp by Mira who instantly turned to the Master to find out what had happened.

"I was about to congratulate her on her training recommend her to train more often with Team Natsu but she believed she was in trouble and began to cry. Natsu came in soon after."

Natsu grunted, "I smelled her tears before they fell and felt her heart rate accelerate so I came up, hearing her concerns."

"I think all the training she had done with little food and water stressed her body too much and hearing the Master might have been the tipping point. It's a panic attack and she should be calming down soon," said Carle with Wendy nodding in conformation.

"You can hear her. She's stopped crying. Poppy, can you hear us now? How are you feeling?"

I sniffled and then buried myself into Erza's shoulder, "I'm sorry. You didn't have to come."

Erza leaned back, causing me to meet her eyes, "I'll always come Poppy. Don't apologize."

"Yeah! We won't leave you alone!" chimed Happy.

Natsu, Wendy, Lucy, and Mira, nodded while Master looked sad, "It should is I who should be apologizing Poppy. I should have realized how much your training would have affected you and have realized that your past would cause you to feel uncomfortable with me. I promise that was not my intention. I merely wanted to congratulate you on your skills and suggest you train with Team Natsu more often to regain your strength as you heal."

"Oh… I… Um…" I stuttered, not knowing what to say.

"I definitely want to fight her again!" interrupted Natsu, winking at me and saving me from having to say more.

"Yeah," I nodded, smiling at him.

"I will work on a training schedule for you the team. It would be better if someone else monitored to prevent Poppy from pushing herself too far because she's still healing," added Mira.

"I can update Porlysia-san," said Wendy.

"Arigato Minna!" I stated, smiling at everyone before leaning into Erza's shoulder, tired of fighting sleep, "But I think I'm going to rest now."

Erza chuckled, as did the others, "Rest now Red. You deserve it."

With that, I fell asleep.


	18. 18 Secrets

**It has been a while but I'm inspired to write again. Please let me know what you think!**

"Is it normal for her to be sleeping this long?"

A light voice hummed in response, "You know that Wendy checked on her before going to Polyscia's home and said that Poppy-chan is fine. Yesterday took a lot from her, with training with Natsu, missing a meal, and her panic attack. Her body needs to rest."

I heard a sigh, "You're right. I'm worrying without a reason. I can't help it. She is my little sister and I finally have her back and I can't help but feel she is going to slip through my fingers soon…there's the guild that's looking for her…and that bind. Mira, we have to get the bind off. We have to..."

I heard the voice trail off before the original voice spoke, "Erza, we will get that bind off of her. We will protect her and you will get to spend time with her again. Instead of worrying, you should focus on the present. Levy is doing research and Laxus's team has gone out searching for the new location of the guild. The Master is meeting with the council whenever new information comes out and has informed the other Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus of the situation. Even Team Natsu is helping by taking short missions nearby to support you two. You are not doing this alone. We're here for you."

"Arigato Mira. I can't imagine doing this without you. The second we find this dark guild, you'll stay behind and watch Poppy right? I must go and destroy them and I refuse to let Poppy near them anymore. The only Red they will see is that of my blades."

"Noooo…Nee-san," I moaned, feeling the need to alert the two of my consciousness. I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the brightness of the room, seeing Mira and Erza look surprise from the foot of the bed- Erza's bed.

"Poppy-"began Erza before I cut her off, looking into her brown eyes.

"No Erza-nee. You can't kill and you can't leave me. If you go them, I'm going with you," I stated, sitting up on her bed but not breaking eye contact.

"No Poppy. This is not up to discussion. You will never see them again," stated Erza firmly.

I stood up from the bed, causing Mira to move closer to me to ensure my safety.

I puffed my chest, trying to seem a bit bigger and not so childlike, "You can't tell me what to do. If I want to go to the guild, then I'm going. They took me away and I want to know what their grand plan with me was. I want to know how the others are doing – the nice ones."

Before Erza could say anything else, Mira joined in, "Why don't we ponder over what might happen and focus on the now hm? We can worry about that in the future. Right now, Poppy, how are you feeling? You've been sleeping since yesterday afternoon and it's nearly three in the afternoon now."

I glared at Erza for a second more, noticing that she did not look angry but sad, before turning to Mira whose blue eyes were filled with concern and I caught a second of sorrow before it disappeared.

" _Why are they sad?"_ I thought to myself before answering her question, the anger slowly leaving my voice as I spoke.

"I feel good! Tired but not sleepy tired. Only tired from sleeping so long. And I'm a little sore from the fight with Natsu but I don't want to be lying down anymore. I wanna move around."

Mira chuckled while Erza smiled slightly.

"Why don't we go to the guild? Wendy can check on you and we can see what the others are up to," asked Erza.

"I believe there will be a game night tonight with Gajeel playing his music and member playing various games – though it will probably end in a brawl," added Mira.

"We'll leave before it gets to that point; I think Red's had enough fighting for today."

I felt my anger flare, "I can make my own decisions, thank you."

Erza and Mira looked at me in surprise before I looked away and left the bed.

"I'm going to get change now and then we can go."

As I left the room, I felt my anger simmer down being replaced by guilt.

 _"Why am I angry at Erza-nee? She's trying to look out for me,"_ I thought to myself.

I could feel tears coming into my eyes and I quickly changed so that I could apologize to Erza. As I was tying my shoes, I heard Erza whisper to Mira, her voice filled with emotion,

"Mira…I think it's happening. The bind… its…it's…" Erza stumbled before Mira soothed her.

"Calm down Erza. Do not forget she is a Dragon Slayer and may be able to hear you. It's too soon to tell. Maybe she's cranky from all the sleep. Besides, we have all our resources searching for an answer. Let's enjoy the day while we can."

" _Is Erza-nee keeping a secret from me? Do they know something and haven't told me?"_ I thought, my blood boiling as I walked over to them.

Erza's back was faced to me as Mira held her in a hug.

" _Is everything okay? Is something happening to me? Is Erza-nee mad at me for being me?!"_ my anger once again disappearing, replaced by worry.

"I'm sorry Erza-nee! I'm sorry! I'm sowwy!" I cried, tears falling as I raced forward to give her a hug, "Please don't be mad at me!"

Erza's arms wrapped around me, "It's okay Poppy. I'm not mad."

I looked at her with my teary eyes, "Really?"

She smiled and ruffled my hair, "Really. Now ready to go to the guild?"

I nodded, wiping my eyes, "Hei!"

Before I could do anything else, Mira took me into her arms and began squishing me.

"Kawaiiiiiii! Your r's are so kawaii!"

I struggled in her arms, "Can't…breathe…"

"Oh! Sorry," Mira said sheepishly as she let go and Erza moved me closer to her.

"You're just so kawai, I couldn't help it."

I blushed, my cheeks looking as red as my hair, and looked at the ground. "I can't help it. It slips…"

Erza put her hand on my shoulder, "Red's always had trouble with her R's like I had trouble with my L's. I'm sure she'll grow out of it."

"Can-can we go the guild?" I asked, trying to not sound like I was whining but I felt my anger come back and I wanted to get to the guild to see if I felt better.

Both Mira and Erza nodded and I reached out to grab Erza's hand before my anger flared. I flinched back and, noticing Mira and Erza's wide eyes, tried to find a way out.

"Race ya!" I shouted, as I bolted out of our room and out of the dorm towards the guild.

 _"What is wrong with me?! Why am I so angry at Erza-nee?"_ I thought, as I ran as fast I could.

Soon enough, I pushed the doors open and ran towards the table that Wendy and Team Natsu are in.

"Wendy-chan!" I panted, stopping on the side of her at the table, startling her, Lucy, Charle, and Happy.

"Yes Poppy-chan? Is everything okay?" asked Wendy, surprised at my appearance.

"Are you okay Poppy-chan?" asked Lucy in concern.

"Yeah Mini-Erza, where's real Erza?" asked Natsu.

Before I had time to answer, Erza and Mira walked into the Guild.

Erza immediately spotted me, her eyes sad before once again being masked. "Looks like you won Red. Good job."

I smiled and watched as Erza and Mira walked towards the bar to sit by the Master.

"Why didn't Erza come over here?" asked Charle, "Or rather, why aren't you with her at the bar? You always eat with her."

"Aye!" added Happy, looking at me curiously.

"I…um…She…." I stumbled, not knowing how to explain the situation without sounding ridiculous.

"Master, it's happening." I heard Erza say, instantly catching my attention.

The Master hummed in response before speaking, "Have you contacted Porlysia?"

"Not yet. We have been with her until now and wanted to speak to you first. We will call her via lacrima after this," replied Mira.

The Master grunted in agreement before lowering his voice further, "Have you reached Mermaid Heel and contacted Kagura?"

"No Master, not yet," I heard Erza say, ignoring the rest as I began to tremble in anger.

" _She knew! They knew! They're all lying to me. Just like Master and Midnight would do! Erza-nee didn't tell me!"_ I yelled in my thoughts.

Erza turned to me, concern in her eyes before she paled realizing I had heard their conversation. The Guild began trembling with an Earthquake as my anger overtook me. Things fell apart and people were yelling but I ignored it all as I glared at Erza.

"Poppy," she said, her voice cracking as she walked towards me, her eye tearing up.

"NO! YOU CAN'T! YOU LIED! YOU LIED TO ME! I TOLD YOU ABOUT VIOLET-NEE AND KAGURA AND HANA-SAN AND YOU KEPT QUIET BUT YOU KNEW ABOUT THEM AND THAT THEY'RE OKAY" I yelled at her.

Erza blinked and looked me, "I know. Gomen Poppy but I didn't want to overwhelm you since you had just started feeling better and I didn't know how they were doing…Much has happened since you were last with them."

"BUT THEY'RE MY FAMILY! THEY TOOK CARE OF ME WHEN YOU LEFT ME!"

Erza flinched at that and stopped moving towards me, bowing her head down so that I could not see her face.

"Gomen nasai Poppy, I never meant to leave you. I only wanted you safe and sound so I led the kidnapper away from you. If I had known…I would have found another solution..."

The Master held his hands up and took a step towards me, "Poppy, she never meant to hurt you and none of us will cause you any harm. I was the one who told her not to contact Mermaid Heel immediately since we wanted to find out more information on the whereabouts of Violet and Kagura before we reached out."

"IT'S YOUR FAULT THEN! WHY DID YOU MAKE A DECISION FOR ME WITHOUT ASKING ME?! THE OTHER MASTER DID THE SAME THING!" I yelled back, causing a chandelier to crash and Laxus barely reaching Mira to prevent her from being hit.

"Oi, calm her down!" called Laxus.

"Lily, take Shorty out of the Guild before it collapses on top of us!" shouted Gajeel, using his iron arms to hold the roof as members evacuated.

"Poppy-chan! Please relax!" called Wendy, using her sky dragon magic to hover just above the ground to avoid the shaking of the ground I was walking.

"Ice-Make: Shield" shouted Gray, holding up the other half of the roof as Juvia helped members out.

"Poppy-chan, it's okay. We're here with you. We're your nakama," called Lucy, fighting to get close to me.

I felt someone behind me and I instantly shot a boulder up which Natsu melted.

"Poppy, you don't want to do this."

I shook my head, tears streaming down my face.

"I don't know who to trust anymore. Everyone leaves me. They lie. They don't stay."

I felt arms wrap around me and tears hitting my head. I screamed harder and harder to be let go, the earth shaking and my power spiraling around me.

"Poppy, I'm never leaving you again. You will always have me. I'm sorry." I heard Erza weep as she held me tight, ignoring the rocks hitting her.

I cried harder as I felt my magic dissipate and the hints of darkness reaching my eyes but not before I got a glimpse at the guild entrance.

" _HANA-SAN?!"_


End file.
